By Elisha Yered

Originally published on Olam Katan (Hebrew) on September 24, 2026/13 Tishrei 5787

For more than a year, a murderous terror cell from the village of al-Mughayyir has been operating in the grazing lands of Binyamin. Deadly poison has been hidden in bait, cisterns, and troughs. Dozens of animals have been harmed. Yet none of the cell members — who have grown bolder by the day — has been arrested. So far, the flocks have paid the price. This is the map of an almost unbelievable campaign of attacks. A special report, originally published in Olam Katan in Hebrew.

One of the poisoned goats after the attack. Photo: Police spokesperson’s unit.

It was four in the morning when a security camera picked up a suspicious figure approaching from the direction of the village. The hunched walk and the sack in the figure’s hands only increased the fear that this was a hostile terrorist act. The guard on duty tensed. After all, this is a well-known, long-established village of murderers, where attempts to kill Jews are part of the daily routine.
Strangely, the figure did not come close to the farm. It stayed hundreds of meters away, in the distant grazing areas. Only a few minutes after it disappeared into a fold in the terrain, security forces arrived. People at the farm still managed to see the figure fleeing back toward the village, but they could not tell what it had done in the dark — even after extensive searches that lasted until sunrise.

The mystery did not last long. Less than a day later, the farm residents discovered, to their horror, what that figure had been looking for and what destructive cargo it had carried in the white sack. A shepherd who took the flock out to pasture as usual suddenly noticed that two sheep at the front of the herd had begun to cough and behave strangely. Within half a minute the coughing turned into full convulsions. Before the shepherd could call for help, those sheep were dying.

A quick, focused search confirmed the fear: Lethal poison had been scattered among the grass a few hours earlier, hidden inside dry pita bread and dates used as bait. The terrorist who slipped in under cover of darkness was apparently skilled with poisons. Less than ten minutes passed from the moment the sheep licked the tasty pita until they died in agony. Crime-scene officers who arrived could only collect physical evidence and hope it would lead to the terrorist and his helpers. More than a year has passed and the terrorist is still free.

Poisoning attack in Binyamin. Photo: Uncredited.

Escalation

This is not another column about “ordinary” neglect in Judea and Samaria — a general problem that goes untreated. It is a real ticking bomb: a specific, serial terrorist cell that has set itself a clear goal of harming Jews and that boldness is growing by the day. Its pattern is consistent. The results could become a disaster at any moment. And the terrorists continues to operate freely on the ground.

This cell runs the poisoning terror along Allon Road in Binyamin. It comes from the notorious village of al-Mughayyir and has already carried out no fewer than ten poisoning attacks in the past year. Its chosen targets have been the sheep and cattle of the nearby hills and farms. People in the village understood that these herds are the spearhead in the struggle over the open land, and they made them a preferred target. A quiet, “clean” nighttime operation in grazing areas that are easy to enter — and the blow to the flock is hard and painful.

A quick, focused search confirmed the fear: lethal poison had been scattered among the grass a few hours earlier,
hidden inside dry pita bread and dates used as bait.

The deadly bait is produced in a homemade lab in one of the houses in the village. After each harsh result, the terrorists draw lessons for next time. Dry pita did not always make the flocks rush at the poison, so the twisted minds behind it switched to sweet dates that animals like. When some goats survived an attempt thanks to fast veterinary care, a stronger poison was quickly found — one that causes multi-organ failure within three minutes.

In one of the early cases, residents of a farm managed to catch a poisoning attempt in real time. Two suspicious figures left an isolated house on the edge of the village and were seen wandering the grazing land and tampering with the grass. When they realized they had been spotted, they fled back to the house. It took no more than a minute to find dozens of poisoned dates scattered where they had just walked.

Terror in Binyamin: The farm’s cisterns were poisoned. Photo: Uncredited.

Army and police forces were rushed in and broke into the house, known as belonging to a Hamas-supporting clan. To their surprise, two of the household members were wearing exactly the same clothes as the suspects who had scattered the poison. One was arrested and even received an official police statement. He was released home within a few days. Exactly two weeks later, another poisoning attack happened in the same place and killed two goats. No one in the nearby settlements was surprised. Four Arabs from the village were arrested immediately after that incident — and they too were released through the revolving door only two days later. The village hurried to celebrate the victory.

The cell members saw that this worked and decided to escalate. In a nighttime operation, terrorists threw poison into more than ten cisterns in the grazing lands of a nearby hill and farm, killing several more sheep that drank from one of them. Only a fast check that revealed the other cisterns had also been poisoned prevented far worse results.

After the cisterns came the turn of the watering troughs in the pasture. Two more goats died in agony. The settlements began a daily struggle to stop the poisoning attempts. Patrols were increased. Antidotes were bought and given to every farm owner. The results were only partial. The attacks continued to strike every few weeks even in the most recent period. Only sometimes did shepherds manage to save the animals with quick veterinary treatment.

In another poisoning incident on the other side of the village, the terrorists again fled to an isolated house on the outskirts. When forces arrived to search the scene, an Arab  policewoman tried to check whether the event had been recorded on the building’s security cameras. The Arab man at the site explained with an innocent face that there had been “a power outage” that very day. A rare coincidence, no doubt. The conversation was conducted entirely in Arabic. The officer was already about to leave when one of the shepherds who had come with the forces understood what was said and demanded to know why she was not arresting the residents on suspicion of obstructing an investigation. She mumbled something about “not having a search warrant” and left without detaining anyone for questioning.

That may be one more infuriating incident in a chain of failures that cries out to heaven. But when it comes to the response of forces on the ground, it is actually an exception. In most cases, soldiers of the regional battalion and officers of the Binyamin police station gave professional, fast treatment. They rushed to the scene every time and showed motivation to catch the terrorists. Despite their goodwill, they repeatedly found themselves chasing after wind.

The terrorists, members of a professional and trained cell, operate without leaving traces. The Binyamin station, with its best investigators and a determined, dedicated command, apparently simply lacks the intelligence tools to complete the investigation. The same is true of the regional battalion commander — aggressive as he may be, and he has been aggressive in this sector for the past nine months.

Who does have those tools? The Judea and Samaria Central Investigative Unit (Yamam Shai) and the Shin Bet (Israeli equivalent of the USA’s FBI) — units built entirely on a rich intelligence network that can connect the loose ends into a clear picture within a few days. In an absurdity that borders on criminal negligence, for more than a year neither body thought it necessary to join the investigation. The automatic procedure that brings the Jewish Department and senior Yamam Shai officers into the picture over every cough from a hilltop youth was never applied by anyone in the security establishment to this ticking bomb. Who knows whether the Shin Bet even defined this as “friction” or “low-level property crime,” instead of understanding that this is terrorism in every sense — terrorism that could easily become someone throwing a box of poison into a drinking water tower on one of the farms.

Criminals from the village of al-Mughayyir. Photo: No credit given.

Meanwhile, the terrorists in al-Mughayyir recorded another escalation last Friday and moved to live fire. It is not yet known whether this was the poisoning cell or other terrorists who received a tailwind, but we came within a hair of another disaster. A resident of Metzudat David Farm who was at the edge of the farm near a parked security ranger heard nearby gunfire but could not tell if it was aimed at him. When he climbed into the ranger about three hours later, he discovered that a Kalashnikov bullet had pierced the front iron beam and missed the driver’s seat by a few centimeters. The shooting was accurate. The terrorists apparently missed the fact that the vehicle was empty.

This poisoning form of terrorism has long since spread beyond Allon Road. But the village of al-Mughayyir remains a symbol of a stubborn, daring nest of terror. The day is not far off when the criminal neglect in this sector will affect quieter, more distant places that may want to follow suit. Terror symbols like this village of murderers must be cut down with full force before they raise their heads. The enemy is sitting and watching the security establishment’s threshold of containment with all eyes. If we want to live, it must discover this week that it made a tragic mistake in its assessment.

Israel Police response:
“Every report or complaint received by the police is examined and investigated professionally and thoroughly, including police entry into the field accompanied by IDF forces to collect findings and evidence, using all means available to the police in order to reach the truth.”

Timeline of attacks

• June 19, 2025: Terrorists scattered poisoned dates in the field. Two cows that ate them collapsed and died.
• November 16, 2025: Terrorists poisoned a cistern in grazing land near the village. No casualties, thank G-d, thanks to alert shepherds and fast veterinary care.
• November 29, 2025: Poisoned pita and dates were scattered in the grazing lands. One goat died; three others suffered severe poisoning symptoms.
• February 25, 2026: Poisoned pita and dates were planted in the grazing lands. One ewe was harmed and died.
• April 8, 2026: Poisoned dates were planted in the field. Two sheep were poisoned but did not die, thanks to fast veterinary care.
• May 5, 2026: More than ten cisterns were poisoned in the grazing lands. Two sheep died.
• July 7, 2026: Poisoned dates and pieces of pita were scattered in the field. Two sheep died; 15 others suffered severe poisoning symptoms.
• August 18, 2026: A combined attack included poisoning a cistern and scattering poisoned pita and dates nearby. One ewe and three herding dogs died.
• August 26, 2026: Poisoned dates were scattered in the field. No casualties thanks to fast veterinary treatment.

• September 2, 2026: Poisoned dates and pieces of pita were scattered in the grazing lands. One goat died.