In West Bank, Palestinian farmers face settler attacks in war over land
| Jericho, Farisiya, and Khan al-Ahmar, West Bank
The masked men arrived聽at聽Suleiman聽Muleihat鈥檚 caravan home at midnight, driving聽olive-green all-terrain vechicles and聽dressed in military fatigues, with what聽looked like聽brand-new M16 rifles slung over their shoulders.
Mr. Muleihat鈥檚聽family,聽living under Israeli military occupation聽on the slopes above Jericho,聽was聽used to the army. But these men did not act like the army.
They demanded his ID聽and聽attempted to storm his home.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onUnder cover of the war in Gaza, armed Israeli settler groups in the West Bank are intimidating Palestinians on land essential to a Palestinian state. The Palestinian farmers and villagers are struggling to hold on to their lands and livelihoods.
They threatened to kill him,聽he says,聽and were only repelled by his dog, who rushed in to defend him. The masked men聽shot and killed聽his聽dog before driving off.
For聽his Bedouin clan鈥檚 village, the incident last week聽characterized聽just another night.聽
Across the West Bank, Palestinian communities聽are聽being threatened daily聽by聽armed and聽emboldened Israeli settlers with violence, torture,聽death,聽or forced displacement.
No longer knowing who is a settler, who is an Israeli soldier,聽or聽where to turn, Mr. Muleihat and other residents say one thing is clear: Since聽Hamas鈥� attack on Israel聽Oct. 7, and with war raging in Gaza,聽it has become a life-and-death struggle to remain on their land.
鈥淭hey are trying to wear us down and make our lives unbearable. We can鈥檛 sleep because that is when they will come, midnight, 1 a.m., 2 a.m.,鈥� he says, rubbing his bleary eyes after a late-night shift as village watchman.聽鈥淏ut we are steadfast. They will have to kill us to take us off our land. If no one is watching, they will try.鈥�
Systematic campaign
West Bank settlers have been stepping up attacks and harassment for years.聽But the situation has exploded聽in the last six weeks.聽聽
The聽United Nations聽and international organizations聽have expressed alarm, and聽demand that Israel rein in settlers have gathered steam. France has condemned the violence as a 鈥減olicy of terror.鈥� And U.S. President Joe Biden, in a Washington Post op-ed Saturday, said militant settlers 鈥渕ust be held accountable,鈥� and said his administration is 鈥減repared鈥� to start 鈥渋ssuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank.鈥�
Despite pledges from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has responded only minimally. Attacks are mounting.
Coming on top of stepped up Israeli military raids across the West Bank, there is concern the attacks could provoke an outbreak of wider unrest and even a new war front.
More than聽revenge聽for聽Hamas鈥櫬燨ct. 7 assault,聽the聽settler聽attacks mark the acceleration of a systematic campaign by Israel鈥檚 far-right to cantonize the West Bank and render any future Palestinian state unviable,聽say international organizations, Israeli nongovernmental organizations, and Western diplomats.
鈥淔or anyone who cares about a Palestinian state, these [village] populations are critical,鈥� says Allegra Pacheco,聽head聽of the West Bank Protection Consortium (WBPC), a European Union-funded grouping of聽NGOs devoted to protecting West Bank communities from forcible transfer.
From Oct. 7 to Nov. 15,聽the聽U.N.聽Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded 244 settler attacks聽resulting in聽the聽deaths聽of eight Palestinians,聽including one child, and 50 injuries.聽
In less than six weeks,聽settler violence displaced聽1,149 people, including entire communities, compared聽with聽1,105聽people in the previous 21 months.聽An additional 6,000 Palestinians are at 鈥渋mminent risk鈥� of displacement,聽says the WBPC.聽
Emerging flashpoints聽include remote聽Bedouin聽encampments聽and farming villages scattered across聽territory聽that is聽under full Israeli military control, where the Palestinian Authority can only provide education and health services.
Bedouin communities,聽which move seasonally to graze their livestock,聽are now squarely in the crosshairs of militant settlers based聽in聽nearby illegal outposts.
In Farisiya, a remote聽community in the lush northern Jordan Valley, Ali Abu Hussein聽now keeps his 300 sheep penned, unwilling to venture out since Oct. 7.
After countless death threats and amid daily harassment, he and other shepherds in his community fear crossing聽the road to their adjacent lands.
鈥淭hey are surrounding us and cutting us off from water and pastures. They won鈥檛 let us live or make a living,鈥� says Mr. Abu Hussein.
To keep their flocks alive, he and other聽Bedouin herders are trucking in聽feed at $450 per ton, depleting their聽savings.
Blurred lines
With West Bank聽settlers called up as reservists聽since Oct. 7, Palestinians and Israeli activists say the line between settlers and soldiers聽is increasingly blurred.聽According to the Israeli NGO B鈥橳selem, the killer of a聽Palestinian harvesting olives last month was an off-duty reservist.聽
In half the recent settler attacks, Israeli forces accompanied or supported the attackers, according to the U.N.
The聽60% of the West Bank that is under聽direct聽Israeli military control聽is now dotted with illegal聽settler聽outposts placed to create Palestinian-free zones that connect existing Israeli settlements and encircle Palestinian towns and villages, NGOs say.
鈥淭he outposts were strategically placed in areas to break up the Palestinian territorial continuity and disconnect Palestinian communities from each other,鈥� says Ms. Pacheco.
The repeated targeting of certain communities 鈥渋s not sporadic,鈥� says Dror聽Sadot, a B鈥橳selem spokesperson.聽鈥淭hey are doing what they dreamed of doing for so many years 鈥� to take more and more land.
鈥淭he settlers know no one is watching them, and all eyes are on Gaza.鈥�
Attempts to speak with the armed settler groups were unsuccessful.
鈥淭he settlers are using the [Oct. 7]聽tragedy to advance their agenda; they couldn鈥檛 be happier,鈥� says Guy Hirshfeld,聽an Israeli聽volunteer with a group that spends nights in Bedouin villages and accompanies shepherds, in the hopes聽that聽the presence of an Israeli with a camera will prevent violence. With settlers firing live rounds, activists no longer believe even they are safe.
鈥淲e are at the front lines鈥�
Khan al-Ahmar is聽a ramshackle collection of tents and shacks聽on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem聽between the settlements of Kfar Adumim and Maale Adumim.聽It鈥檚 populated by聽Bedouin聽from the Jahalin tribe who were pushed off their lands in 1948 and settled here under Jordanian rule.
鈥淲e are at the front lines,鈥� Khan al-Ahmar community leader Eid Jahalin says as he points to a settler outpost a few hundred yards away.
鈥淚f we were to leave, Israel and Israeli settlers would completely encircle Jerusalem and cut the West Bank in half. All Palestinians will suffer and have their movements completely restricted,鈥澛爃e聽says.
Settler drones now fly into the village regularly, enter the schoolyard, and terrify livestock. Settler gunmen visit regularly.
The Israeli military has imposed a 5 p.m. curfew on the community, and settlers from the nearby outpost threatened to shoot聽youths who wander聽onto聽the main road, Mr. Jahalin聽says.
鈥淎ny street, any field in the West Bank can become a firing zone. We spend every waking moment looking over our shoulders,鈥澛爏ays Khalid Allawi, who聽says he聽is being blocked by armed settlers from reaching his 124 acres of farmland adjacent to his village of Deir Jarir, deep in the West Bank.
Adding to the terror is the spike in kidnapping attempts, kidnappings, and torture of Palestinians carried out by settlers, the photographs of which are shared on social media.
With Israel seemingly unable or unwilling to stop the violence, Western embassies聽and聽Israeli human rights advocates say their material assistance and monitoring is no longer enough to prevent the displacement of unarmed Palestinians facing gun-toting settlers.
鈥淲e need security, armed guards, or police 鈥� the one thing the international community and the [Palestinian] Authority cannot provide us,鈥� says herder Fathi Allawi.聽
Displaced Palestinians face 鈥渢ougher future鈥�
The uprooting of communities since Oct. 7 has聽had a domino effect.
鈥淲hen families give in and leave, they make our lives a thousand times more difficult for the rest of us who remain,鈥� says Mr. Muleihat in Jericho.聽鈥淚t convinces the settlers that their campaign is working and motivates them to increase the violence.鈥�
The future of those who have been pushed off their lands is highly uncertain.聽
One year after they left their ancestral home of Ras al Tin, selling their flock of 300 sheep after settlers killed a relative, Omar Kaabneh and his family are living in makeshift shelters nearby. Last Sunday they were picking olives as farmhands.
鈥淢y daughter wanted to be a doctor; my son should be preparing for his university exams. But instead they are working with me in the fields,鈥� he says.
As they harvest, they turn their eyes to the mountaintop home they were forced to flee. Just a mile away, it is always within sight, but out of reach.
鈥淚f you stay, your children鈥檚 lives are in danger, and if you leave, you lose a piece of your identity and your future,鈥� Mr. Kaabneh says. 鈥淵our lives or your land. This is the choice we all face.鈥�
