Israeli settlers set up tents on Palestinian farmland in occupied Jordan Valley

Israeli settlers today set up tents on Palestinian farmland in the village of Khirbet Umm Al-Jimal, in the northern Jordan Valley. Mahdi Daraghmeh, the head of Al-Maleh village council, reported that a group of settlers, accompanied by their livestock, raided the village and erected tents close to those of local Palestinian residents in Umm Al-Jimal.

According to Wafa news agency, the area has since yesterday been under a strict military lockdown imposed by the occupation forces, who claim to be searching for the individual responsible for a recent shooting in the Jordan Valley that resulted in the death of a settler. The Israeli occupation forces have also intensified military controls at the Tayasir and Hamra checkpoints in the northern Jordan Valley, restricting movement severely and leading to significant traffic congestion.

Israeli settlers have been targeting the area for months and seizing Palestinian agricultural land. Settler attacks have surged at an unprecedented rate, according to the UN.

Israel’s failure to protect Palestinians and prosecute settlers has led to the latter being able to operate in an environment of near complete impunity.

All of Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank and the settlers who live in them are illegal under international law. They are also seen as an impediment to the internationally agreed two-state solution.

There are an estimated 800,000 illegal settlers living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the Occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. In parallel with the devastating Israeli military offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza, extremist Jewish settlers have escalated their attacks in the occupied West Bank.

At least 620 Palestinians, including 144 children, have been killed in the occupied Palestinian territories, excluding Gaza, since 7 October. More than 5,400 have been wounded, and 9,890 have been detained by the Israeli occupation forces, according to official Palestinian data.

READ: Israel arrests more Palestinians in raids across occupied West Bank