Stop the Ethnic Cleansing in the Jordan Valley
- ACRI
- Mar 18
- 4 min read
Shepherding communities have lived for decades in the northern Jordan Valley, making their living from raising and grazing sheep and cattle. These communities maintain a unique way of life, and family ties are essential for their survival. But residents’ movements have become increasingly restricted over the years, a result of, among other things, the establishment of settlements and the allocation of extensive agricultural lands to them; the designation of areas as firing zones; and the designation of nature reserves, which take up a large percentage of the open areas that were previously used for grazing. In the past fifteen years, illegal and unregulated outposts and farms have been added to the settlements, usually operated by extremists. The outposts are often established in coordination with the army, receive funding, are allocated extensive grazing areas, and are also provided with “security equipment” such as ATVs, firearms, and drones. The outpost residents and others associated with the settlements and regional councils work in close cooperation with security forces. Their stated goal is ethnic cleansing. To this end, they subject residents to extensive abuse and mistreatment, which in recent months have led to five communities being uprooted after life became unbearable.
Over the past year, we have repeatedly appealed to the army on behalf of the communities of Samra, Ein al-Hilweh, Hammam al-Malih, al-Hadidiyah, Farisiyah, and others, all of which have been subjected to escalating levels of violence and harassment, to no avail. On March 16, 2026, together with activists from the Jordan Valley, we sent an urgent appeal to the Attorney General, the Chief of Staff, ministers, and senior officials in the army and the Civil Administration, demanding that they stop the ethnic cleansing currently taking place in the northern Jordan Valley, act to prevent the expulsion of the shepherding communities, and protect them from violence and harassment.
In the appeal, Attorneys Alon Sapir from Jordan Valley Activists and Reut Shaer from ACRI describe how settlers, with backing from the State, make the lives of Palestinian shepherds intolerable and force them to leave:
Establishing violent outposts and farms and creating a dense network of illegal farms and outposts adjacent to existing communities.
Physical assaults and property damage, including invading residents’ homes at all hours of the day and night, assaulting residents, and violating their privacy.
Psychological terror and threats, including subjecting residents and family members to humiliation, hurling racist epithets, and sowing continuous fear to undermine their sense of security with the goal of forcing them to leave.
Preventing access to grazing land, including taking over grazing areas, setting up unauthorized fences or poles with Israeli flags to mark boundaries that residents are not allowed to cross.
Harming sheep and cattle, including chasing herds off grazing lands, and sometimes killing or injuring animals.
Preventing agricultural work, including disrupting plowing and sowing work and destroying crops.
The appeal also describes the ways in which the military and the State aid and abet the violence, harassment, and discrimination against residents:
Providing military assistance to outposts. The army coordinates with outpost builders, allocates grazing land to them, and provides equipment such as weapons, drones, and ATVs that are used to expel communities.
Soldiers present during violent incidents refrain from intervening to protect Palestinian victims, and sometimes even take an active role in the violence. Police will often arrest the Palestinians who call them for help during attacks while ignoring the perpetrators of the violence.
Blocking access to legal recourse. The police avoid investigating complaints against settlers, refuse to arrive at the scene where crimes have taken place against Palestinians to collect evidence, and impose bureaucratic obstacles on Palestinians seeking to file complaints.
Declaring closed areas by using the designation of “firing zones” or “nature reserves” to prevent Palestinians from accessing grazing areas. Meanwhile, settlers are allocated these same lands for grazing.
Erecting physical barriers and obstacles that disconnect communities from district towns that provide them with water and other essential services.
Disrupting the water supply by refusing to connect communities to water infrastructure, blocking roads for water trucks, and imposing fines on tanker drivers based on various pretexts (such as slow driving or traveling through firing zones).
Demolishing homes and sheds based on old orders or without granting the resident the opportunity to appeal, while completely ignoring new and illegal construction in nearby Jewish outposts.
Arbitrary arrests and detentions of shepherds for hours, during which they are handcuffed, blindfolded, and held in degrading conditions.
Direct pressure from military officials who tell residents that their future is not in the area and that, “for their own good,” they should move to towns in Areas A or B.
The appeal warns that this conduct openly violates humanitarian law and amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the ban on the forced displacement of a civilian population within occupied territory as set out in the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the prohibition on transfer and persecution as crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute. Taken together, these actions align with the definition of the crime of “ethnic cleansing” as recognized in rulings of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The appeal demands that the army and the State act immediately and effectively:
Stop the participation of security forces in the harassment of Palestinian residents;
Protect community residents from harm to their bodies, dignity, and property by settlers;
Take enforcement measures against settlers working to expel Palestinian communities;
Ensure reasonable access for Palestinian residents to water and grazing lands;
Ensure the return of community residents who were expelled from their lands.
Appeal by ACRI and Jordan Valley Activists, March 16, 2026 (Heb)
