‘I spent 27 years building up my flock, only to see it disappear in 20 minutes. A community’s livelihood disappeared with no warning and no way to stop it.’
Ahmed, resident of Ras ‘Ein Al ‘Auja, Jordan Valley
We are sitting in the shade of a huge Syrian ash tree in the centre of the community of Ras ‘Ein Al ‘Auja in the Jordan Valley and Ahmed, a local famer, is telling us about a recent settler attack on his local community and their ongoing struggle to simply stay in their homes.
Ahmed recounted how in March, in a coordinated attack by dozens of Israeli settlers supported by the Israeli army and police, 1,500 sheep were stolen from his community.
Flock of sheep, Jordan Valley
Israeli peace activists on the ground tried to prevent the theft and tracked the stolen sheep to Israeli settlements. Some of the community identified their animals by the marks on their ears used by Bedouins to differentiate each family’s herd.
The Israeli police refused to take reports from the families impacted and the investigation into the reports they did take were closed within 3 days, according to Roni Pelli, a lawyer for Israeli human rights group Yesh Din.
Local resident, Mariam, surveys empty livestock pens following the theft
From then, our team of Ecumenical Accompaniers witnessed settler attacks and harassment in Ras ‘Ein Al ‘Auja intensifying. An irrigation project, installed by the Italian NGO We World, was destroyed within days of completion; the pipes torn out of the ground with tractors and chains. This is where families in the community grow crops to feed livestock in the extremely hot summers when there is no grass. Naifa, another local resident, told us that settlers had also come with tractors and ploughed her land.
‘We are afraid that they will come back in the autumn and try to plant crops in this land.’
Naifa, resident of Ras ‘Ein Al ‘Auja
The community of Ras ‘Ein Al ‘Auja, Jordan Valley
The community’s water source has also been targeted. For centuries, the Al–Auja spring has provided fresh water to local Palestinians. This was until it was diverted by settlers who piped water from the spring to the illegal Israeli settlement of Yitav and to Zohar outpost, an informal settlement illegal under both international and Israeli law. As a result, the spring that once supplied the village is now dry.
Dried up canal from Al ‘Auja spring, due to diversion by Israeli settlement
The community now has to bring in water by tanker from a village 8 km away. Khalil, a local resident, recounted driving the tractor and tanker home with his young son and being attacked by settlers throwing stones. They broke the windscreen of the tractor but thankfully no one was hurt.
Tractor’s window broken by Israeli settlers, Ras ‘Ein Al ‘Auja
The attacks on Ras ‘Ein Al ‘Auja go hand in hand with an intensification in Israeli government policies to annex parts of the occupied West Bank. In July 2024, the International Court of Justice determined that these policies are illegal and that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land must stop, and all settlers be evacuated, as “rapidly as possible”.
The Israeli government has been actively pursuing annexation policies since the formation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government in late 2022. These efforts are spearheaded by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a prominent figure in the far-right religious Zionist Party, who has been instrumental in reshaping the governance and territorial dynamics of the region.
In a significant shift, Israel transferred administrative powers over the West Bank from the military-run Civil Administration to a civilian body under Smotrich’s control. This move effectively places the West Bank under Israeli civilian governance, signalling a transition from temporary occupation to permanent control.
The Israeli government has also markedly increased settlement activities, approving thousands of new housing units and legalising previously unauthorized outposts. The starkest example is the recent approval of the long-frozen E1 settlement plan in August 2025, which threatens to split the West Bank in two, destroying the prospect for a viable Palestinian state.
Israel has designated vast areas of the West Bank as ‘state land’, facilitating further settlement expansion. Notably, in June 2024, approximately 3,100 acres (the equivalent of over 1,700 football pitches) in the Jordan Valley were declared state land, marking the largest such seizure in over three decades. The designation of ‘state land’ is a mechanism which removes legal ownership of the land from Palestinians.
The impact of these policies is clear. According to Israeli peace organisation Peace Now:
‘Approximately 47 Palestinian communities have been forcibly displaced since October 2023 due to settler violence. This includes at least 300 Palestinian families (around 1,762 individuals) who lost their homes.’
Peace Now (data from Kerem Navot and OCHA)
What these policies mean for the people of Ras ‘Ein Al ‘Auja in everyday life is that they are surrounded on three sides by land that has been designated as either an Israeli military ‘firing zone’, a ‘border zone’ or a ‘nature reserve’ — all areas from which Palestinians are barred while Israeli military and Israeli citizens retain access. The result is that the land where they traditionally grazed their sheep and goats is no longer accessible to them. As Naifa told me:
‘Our space is shrinking every week. You can’t cross the road to graze the animals on our land because the settlement security has forbidden it. We can’t take the sheep into the mountain because it is a closed military zone. They are trying to starve us out of our homes so that they can take our land.’
Naifa, local resident
Added to that, settlers from the nearby outpost and settlements have told her that it is ‘forbidden’ for the community take their animals to graze areas of their own land. This prohibition has no basis in law, but it is enforced by heavily armed settlers with the support of the Israeli military. One of these ‘forbidden’ areas is on the opposite side of a newly constructed road to an illegal settler outpost which cut one family’s grazing land in half.
The Israeli government has invested heavily in infrastructure projects like these roads that benefit Israeli settlers, in addition to the construction of power plants and solar fields. These developments often come at the expense of Palestinian communities, leading to increased displacement and restricted access to essential services.
The entrance into the community from the main road is often blocked by settlers who are equipped with all-terrain vehicles. The Israeli Ministry of Settlements has been gifting these to settlers citing ‘security’ needs. The settlers are also heavily armed and there have been a number of physical assaults on community members.
Intimidation is a daily occurrence. I witnessed settlers driving ATVs into and around the community at speed. One settler likes to ride his horse in between family homes at night to frighten children. Another has lit fires on several occasions next to a family home and makes tea and stays to drink it. I was told by people in the community that in a five-day period in June, electricity lines in the community were cut three times.
Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din’s research corroborates this:
‘The data indicates that the Israeli authorities are unable or unwilling to enforce the law on Israelis who harm Palestinians and their property in the OPT, granting them immunity for acts of violence, including assault, beating, use of firearms, stone-throwing, threats, arson, theft, harming crops and different types of vandalism.’
Yesh Din
For the families of Ras ‘Ein Al Auja, these annexation policies have resulted in a shrinking of their farmland, a complete of the rule of law, limited access to water and power and daily violence and intimidation. Research from Israeli human rights group B’Tselem shows how these acts are designed to make it impossible to continue living there in order to force the families from their homes so the land can be annexed by Israel.
What is happening is being watched closely by other communities in the Jordan Valley. In a nearby village, one man told me:
‘I see what is coming in the future for us as clearly as I see you sitting in front of me. After they finish off Ras ‘Ein Al ‘Auja they will come for us. Where do we go? I wish to die an old man here, where I was born, I don’t want to go anywhere else. I have nowhere else to go.’
Take action!
1. Sign our urgent email to your elected representative asking our governments to say no to Israel’s proposed E1 major settlement plan which could split the West Bank in two and destroy the possibility of a future Palestinian state. It takes just 1 minute. Write to your MP (UK) here. Write to your TD (Ireland) here.
2. In July, the world’s highest court ruled that Israel’s occupation of all Palestinian territory was illegal and must end. Contact your MP urge your elected representatives to take decisive action to honour the findings of the court. Write to your representative UK / Ireland.
3. Join the Red Line For Gaza campaign.
What does international law say?