A new report published earlier this month by the Binyamin Regional Council reveals a growing wave of poisoning incidents targeting strategic farms along the Alon Road corridor near the village of al-Mughayyir. Since June 2025, at least 11 incidents have been documented in the area involving poisoned animals or food and water sources suspected of being contaminated with poison.
In the latest incident, two goats were found dead at Metzudat Dovid Farm, apparently as a result of poisoning. In total, dozens of sheep, goats, cattle and dogs have died or grown ill in the various incidents.
In some cases, dates and pita bread containing a substance suspected of being poison were scattered across grazing areas, while in others, poison was discovered in drinking troughs and water cisterns. In several incidents, trackers found footprints leading toward nearby Palestinian villages.
In February, for example, dates containing poison were discovered in grazing areas at Metzudat Dovid Farm. In May, four sheep began convulsing after a water cistern at Shlisha Farm was poisoned, and searches uncovered tracks leading toward a nearby village. In July, two sheep died at the same farm, and approximately 15 others were poisoned after a substance suspected of being poison was discovered in a drinking trough.
Later, poisoned dates were discovered at Tel Talfit, and two dogs died. In August, one sheep died and five became ill at Shlisha Farm, while in another incident, a sheep was poisoned in the Maalot Dovid area.
The latest incidents occurred against the backdrop of growing tensions in the area. On August 30, shepherds were attacked with stones near the quarry road, close to al-Mughayyir.
Around the same time, a shepherd was attacked by an anarchist activist near Rimonim Junction, suffering injuries and losing consciousness. On September 2, at the same time that two dead goats were discovered near the Metzudat Dovid Farm, another shepherd was attacked by an anarchist activist in the same area.
The council says the unusual proximity in both time and location between the poisoning incidents and the anarchist activists’ actions against the shepherds raises suspicions of their involvement and has called on security authorities to investigate.
The council is particularly concerned about the targeting of water sources. The poisoning of drinking water is a potential security threat for which Israel has been preparing for years, and now, the council says, deliberate poisoning of water sources in grazing areas is taking place unhindered — at this stage, targeting livestock herds. The council cautioned that the incidents are a warning sign that must not be ignored.
The farms’ location is strategically significant. They are spread across the open areas between al-Mughayyir and Alon Road and, according to the council, serve as a layer of protection for the route. In the past, terror attacks originating in the al-Mughayyir area reached the road and endangered drivers. The presence of farmers in the area has pushed the points of friction farther away from the route. About a year ago, a terrorist from al-Mughayyir opened fire at a farmer from the community of Gal Yosef.
The security importance of the farms was previously highlighted in a report by the Binyamin Regional Council and the Farms Association. According to the data, as the network of farms expanded, the number of terror incidents along Alon Road fell from 459 in 2022, when three farms were operating, to 126 in 2024, when 11 farms were operating. During the first half of 2025, with 13 farms along the route, just 52 incidents were documented.
The Binyamin Regional Council warns that beyond the harm to the animals and the farmers’ livelihoods, attacks on the farms could bring the threat back to Alon Road and the thousands of Israelis who travel on it.
Binyamin Regional Council head and Yesha Council chairman Yisrael Ganz said: “If we remain silent when sheep are poisoned, we will weep when Israelis are poisoned. Don’t say the warning signs weren’t there. The State of Israel has been preparing for years for a scenario involving the poisoning of drinking water, and here, before our very eyes, water sources used by herds are already being poisoned.
“We must not wait for this method to be directed against human beings. I call on the security establishment to act decisively against the terrorists from al-Mughayyir, who have demonstrated over the years the desire, intention and ability to murder Israelis. The perpetrators must be arrested and this phenomenon must be stopped now, before it is too late.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
