Settler Violence Against the Ein al-Hilweh Shepherding Community
- ACRI
- Mar 31
- 2 min read
In the northern Jordan Valley, there are currently at least eight illegal outposts, mostly grazing outposts, that are serving as an indirect way for settlers to take control over many acres of grazing land. The establishment of these outposts has consistently been accompanied by violence, harassment, threats, and organized attacks on Palestinian communities in the area. There are constant attempts to establish new outposts, with the stated goal of using this as a means to "cleanse" the area of its protected residents and dispossess them of their rights.
To take just one example, the residential area of the Ein al-Hilweh shepherding community in the northern Jordan Valley consists of five extended families, about 70 residents, who make their living from herding sheep and cattle. A number of years ago, settlers came to the area with the stated goal of expelling the community and taking over its lands and resources. For years Palestinian residents of the area dealt with harassment from the settlers, but since the outbreak of the war there has been a major escalation of settler violence. In some cases, they even act with the overt backing of the military—or those appearing to be military—and law enforcement that turns a blind eye to the violence. The grazing areas are sites of frequent violence, and Palestinians who go to the area are subject to threats, harassment, property damage. They are also often blocked from grazing, which has led to the gradual restriction of their access to grazing areas. Additionally, residents of the outpost settlement constantly (day and night) show up where the Palestinians live to steal sheep and cattle; damage water tanks and solar panels; make noise; drive recklessly on ATVs; and intimidate and threaten the men, women, and children of the community—sometimes while armed. Over the past two months the situation has become unbearable, and the community faces displacement.
On March 31, 2025, we appealed to the head of the military’s Central Command, the head of the Civil Administration, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, and the Commander of the Judea and Samaria Police, demanding:
The immediate protection of the community so that it is not uprooted;
The issuance of a closure order for the area surrounding the residential compounds of the communities under attack;
The removal of violent attackers from the West Bank area, or at least from the Jordan Valley area;
The evacuation and dismantling of the violent outposts surrounding the community;
Enforcement measures and thorough legal proceedings against criminals living among the outpost residents.
In the appeal, Attorney Reut Shaer, Director of the Human Rights in the Occupied Territories Unit, wrote: "Our appeal does not deal with criminal events but with an emergency security situation, with the complete abdication of the rule of law in the West Bank and the complete violation of the military commander's duty to ensure public order and protection of protected residents and their rights, and with the commission of war crimes against protected residents by Israeli citizens [...] The violence in the residential and grazing area of the Ein al-Hilweh community does not occur in a vacuum. It is part of a clear trend of increasing settler violence, particularly the trend of violent outposts serving as agents of displacement and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, funded and backed by various state authorities, including the army, police, and the Civil Administration in the territories in its new format."
ACRI's appeal, March 31, 2025 (Hebrew)