The village of Broqeen is caught in a vice of settlement aggression, situated in the western slopes of Salfit city in northern West Bank. It shares its landscape of plains and hills with Nablus, resembling a pearl nestled among olive trees, grape vineyards, and vegetable gardens, until the disturbances caused by settler attacks disrupted its daily life for over two weeks.
The settlers’ offensive against the village is not limited to land confiscation for the benefit of the “Ali Zahav” and “Broqeen” settlements. It has escalated to assaults on homes, vehicles, and possessions, inducing fear of kidnapping and murder among the residents, all while the Israeli army enforces a tight blockade on the village. Settlement leaders have even called for Broqeen to become a second Hawara, referencing plans for arson and destruction to leave it in ruins.
In Broqeen, the situation has become precarious, as settlers roam freely, burning, uprooting, and terrorizing families, who now find themselves confined within their homes. The streets have turned into battlegrounds, with bullets and tear gas directed at houses, reflecting a vengeful grip that operates without constraints.
Children and mothers peek through window bars, bearing the burden of a cruel siege, watching as their streets lie deserted except for settlers and soldiers, while fathers strive to improve the conditions of their “imprisonment” in this large, unsafe “jail.”
This task is daunting and requires immense composure, as settlers remain entrenched and unrestrained in their actions, imposing collective punishment on more than 4,000 residents—punishments steeped in destruction and chaos, turning everything they touch into ruin.
The list of repercussions against Broqeen’s residents appears open-ended, dictated by the fluctuating whims of the settlers, who are finding new ways to torment and abuse defenseless citizens, transforming their homes into unsafe prisons. The settlers only invade the village under cover of gunfire and incendiary devices, targeting anyone they encounter outside their homes with violent aggression.
“Around us, atop houses, and along the stairs leading to rooftops, Israeli soldiers move about without intervening in settler assaults. They executed young Nael Samara in cold blood after blindfolding and handcuffing him and instructing him to return home after enduring harsh interrogation,” summarized Jawad Awadallah from Broqeen, highlighting the ongoing incursions by settlers and the military into the village.
He continued, stating, “The first round of blockade lasted 10 days, during which houses were raided and their contents destroyed by the Israeli army. We are currently experiencing the second round characterized by settler attacks, which include burning homes and properties, as well as gunfire directed at residences,” noting several injuries reported among the villagers.
The Misery of Siege
He remarked, “Broqeen suffers tremendously from the siege; shops are shut down, and health services are virtually nonexistent, with no ambulances or fire trucks available. The entrances to the village are sealed, and anyone who dares venture out faces the peril of a ‘hunting ground,’ subjected to interrogation sessions that end only when met with brutal beatings from sticks and rifle butts.”
Heavy days weigh upon the residents of Broqeen, now emblematic of settler assaults, alongside other villages like Sinjil, Turmus Ayya, al-Mughayer, Kafr Deek, and Deir Dibwan, where painful experiences continue to unfold amid the hostility settler communities harbor toward the olive trees and homes in these areas. The Israeli army appears to appease settlers, at times increasing repression against the residents and at other times giving settlers free rein to wreak havoc.