As dusk fell on Friday, a stretch of rural land east of Ramallah was engulfed by flames after groups from nearby settlements torched homes, makeshift dwellings and livestock enclosures scattered across the hills between two villages. The fires tore through modest structures and grazing facilities, leaving families scrambling to save what little they could as smoke drifted across the valley.

For the Bedouin communities living there, the damage went far beyond property. Shelters that had taken years to build were reduced to ash, animals were left without pens, and entire livelihoods were thrown into doubt. Several families were forced to leave the area overnight, uncertain if they would be able to return or rebuild in a landscape that has become steadily more hostile.

Later in the evening, armed forces entered the area, flooding the darkness with bright flares and explosive stun devices. Residents described the scene as one of intimidation rather than protection, adding to a climate of fear that has spread across many rural parts of the West Bank. These incidents are unfolding against a wider backdrop of a genocidal war, in which policies reshaping land control are accelerating dispossession and pushing vulnerable communities ever closer to erasure.