Settler Violence Drives Dozens of Palestinian Bedouin Families From Jordan Valley

Dozens of Palestinian Bedouin families have abandoned the Arab al-Mleihat shepherding community in the Jordan Valley after years of intimidation by armed Israeli settlers. Reuters reported that 30 families dismantled their homes on 4 July, while Palestinian rights groups said the exodus reached about 50 families—roughly 500 people—over two days. The community, once home to 85 families, lies northwest of Jericho; footage showed residents loading belongings onto trucks as settlers and Israeli soldiers looked on. The departure follows a surge in settler attacks across the occupied West Bank. In recent days armed groups entered the villages of Shuqba and Sinjil near Ramallah, torched farmland around Beita south of Nablus and released livestock among olive groves in Masafer Yatta, according to Palestinian and Israeli rights monitors. B’Tselem has documented theft, vandalism and assaults in the Jordan Valley, noting that new settler outposts often precede such violence. Israel’s government has not issued a detailed response to the latest incidents. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told reporters that any civilian violence is “unacceptable” and that individuals must not take the law into their own hands, but Palestinian officials and activists say the army routinely shields settlers from prosecution. Most countries regard Israeli settlements in the territory, captured in 1967, as illegal under international law.