Nablus, January 5, 2026 (WAFA) – Zahran Maali
In the heart of the area stretching between the villages of Al-Mughayir, east of Ramallah, and Duma, south of Nablus, Khirbet Al-Marajem stands witness to a long history of rootedness and resilience, and to a harsh present of targeting, neglect, and colonial encroachment .
Khaled Yousef Daoud, one of the original inhabitants of Khirbet, recounts that his family has lived in Al-Marajem for generations since the Ottoman era. He says that the land of Khirbet belonged to his grandfather, Asaad Hamdallah Awad, who sent about 300 soldiers from the village of Talfit to fight in the Balkan War, and none of them returned. As a reward, he was given by the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, which consisted of approximately 50,000 dunams extending between Al-Mughair and Douma .
Until 1967, Khirbet al-Marajem contained 67 houses, but the Six-Day War completely changed the scene, as only 13 houses remained afterward, while today the number has declined to only four houses that house five families, in a dangerous indication of demographic decline .
Daoud confirms to Wafa that since 1984, the village has witnessed a gradual migration of its lands, leaving them unutilized and unserviced, while others have sold their lands through sales agencies, mediated by an Israeli or Jordanian notary, to holders of Israeli identity cards from the residents of Jerusalem, warning of the seriousness of this phenomenon and the risks it poses of leaking lands for the benefit of colonial expansion .
Despite this, Daoud points out that the occupation authorities have not officially seized any part of the Khirbet lands to this day, nor have they issued evacuation or displacement orders against its residents, but they have classified the Khirbet as an archaeological area, based on an old law dating back to 1966 during the Jordanian rule, which raises questions about the nature of this indirect targeting .
Khirbet al-Marajem lies entirely within Area C, as defined by the Oslo Accords. It covers approximately 50,000 dunams and is owned by four villages: Duma, Qaryut, al-Mughayyir, and Talfit. Today, it is home to about 50 people from five families, including children and women, who continue to live in extremely harsh conditions .
Daoud points out that daily life in the village is fraught with danger, explaining that he was forced to leave his job, after running a tourism and travel office in Nablus for more than three years, as a result of escalating settler attacks, in order to remain stationed in the village defending his home and land .
He says he has personally been subjected to 93 attacks since 2023, including beatings, arson, crop destruction, shootings, and the destruction of his vehicle and the contents of his home, without any of the attackers being held accountable, despite his filing documented complaints with the occupation police .
After the killing of one of the settlers’ shepherds last year, a new settlement outpost was established near the village, which quickly turned into a cluster of dozens of caravans, and military roads were built for it, in contrast to the escalating restrictions on the Palestinians, including preventing them from farming, grazing, and even accessing their homes .
Daoud places part of the responsibility on the absent landowners and the village councils that have not taken serious action to stop the leakage of land or to object to the colonial outposts. He also criticizes the official and human rights institutions of the Palestinians, whose role he describes as absent or incapable, while support – if it exists – is limited to some foreign institutions .
The residents of Khirbet express their fear that the “archaeological” designation will be used as a pretext for their displacement, as happened in neighboring villages that were completely emptied. Daoud says, “If the missiles fall, Douma and Al-Mughair will fall in succession,” warning of a broader plan aimed at emptying the eastern region of its Palestinian inhabitants .
Despite all this, he affirms his attachment to the land, saying: “I have experienced exile, and I will not live humiliated in a foreign land. I will remain here alive and dignified, and if I die, I will die dignified. This is our land religiously and legally, and we will not leave it .”
For his part, retired military officer Nassim Muslim, a resident of Khirbet, describes a daily reality of direct attacks, noting that settlers do not go more than 30 meters away from his house, and they storm his surroundings with their cows under the protection of armed men .
He says: “I planted seedlings in front of the house door… They brought the cows down on them, and they left nothing but sticks. The cows are grazing without a shepherd, and the colonizers are armed, as if they are in a military parade .”
Muslim confirms that the pace of attacks has escalated significantly since October 7, 2023, as the settlers replaced sheep with cows to cause greater destruction, and they come two or three times a week, under the protection of tractors and armed settlers .
In March of last year, a Muslim’s house and the house of one of his relatives were completely burned down. He adds: “The fire consumed everything, even the iron supporting the roof melted from the intensity of the fire. There were no fire stations nearby, and the nearest one was about 30 kilometers away, and by the time they arrived, the houses had turned to ash .”
Naseem Muslim, a retired officer from the Preventive Security Service since 2017, mentions that he was subjected to a serious physical assault in 2022 that almost cost him his life. Despite this, he renovated his house with his own resources, in light of the occupation’s prohibition of building with concrete or roofing houses with cement, which forced families to use zinc and tin .
Until 2018, the village had about 14 families, but continuous pressures forced most of them to leave, and today only a limited number of inhabited houses remain, while children have to travel three kilometers to reach their schools in the village of Douma .
According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission’s report on “The most prominent violations of the occupation and its settlers during the year 2025”, the occupation forces and settlers carried out 23,827 attacks against citizens and their properties, distributed as follows: 1,382 attacks on lands and crops, 16,664 attacks on individuals, and 5,398 attacks on property .
The head of the commission, Minister Mu’ayyad Sha’ban, explained in a press conference held today, Monday, in Ramallah, that the occupation army carried out 18,384 attacks, while the settlers carried out 4,723 attacks, and the two sides together carried out 720 attacks .
Shaaban stressed that 2025 was a year burdened with blood, maps, and decisions, noting that the occupation was not content with expanding settlements, but sought to redefine geography and the entire Palestinian presence, within the framework of an integrated colonial project targeting the land, the people, and the memory together .
Z.A./F.A
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