Moataz Basharat: The entire occupation system, including police, army, and nature authority, works to serve the settlers.

Raed Muqaddasi: Pastoral centers are the right hand of settlement and the basic base for Judaization and Israelization

Suhail Khaliliya: Settlers have seized 300,000 dunams in the last four years

Suhail Suleiman: It is not random, but rather part of a project that has been implemented over many years.

Since Israel occupied the remaining land of historic Palestine in 1967, it has set its sights on seizing the land and emptying it of its Palestinian inhabitants, especially in the Jordan Valley along the eastern border, where there are vast areas of land and natural resources necessary for agricultural development, especially abundant water, high temperatures and wide pastures.

Despite the great effort made by Israel to build and expand settlements in the West Bank, the pace of settlement expansion remained slow and did not meet the desires of the extreme Israeli right, which has growing power in Israeli society, to annex Area C and stifle any chance of establishing a Palestinian state.

In recent years, Israel has found a magic formula that helps it seize larger areas of land in the shortest possible time, and at relatively low costs. This formula is represented in what has become known as “pastoral settlement,” through which it has seized in a few years more areas of land than it seized in the half century since the occupation of the West Bank.

Researchers and specialists in confronting settlements, who met with “Y”, believe that this form of settlement is the most dangerous and fiercest of all, and there must be a practical and clear national plan to confront this form and other forms of settlement before it is too late.

28 population centers displaced due to pastoral settlement

Moataz Basharat, the settlement file official in Tubas Governorate and the northern Jordan Valley, explains that pastoral settlement is what has come to control the land in the Jordan Valley, and because of it, 28 Palestinian population centers have been displaced.

He said that the total area controlled by the occupation since 1968 in the Jordan Valley is 28 thousand dunams, while one settler controlled a similar area within a few days and the lands became under the control of the settlers, including hills, mountains and water springs.

Basharat pointed out that previously the settlement controlled 3-4 thousand dunams, but under the pastoral settlement, one settler controls an area ranging between 12-18 thousand dunams.

As an example, one settler established a pastoral settlement outpost in the Hamma area of the Jordan Valley, which now controls more than 28,000 dunams.

He pointed out that the settlers are adopting a new law: Wherever your cow or pickaxe reaches, it is yours. Therefore, he controls the land and closes it to the Palestinians, and arrests any citizen who enters the area by summoning the occupation police or the police of the settlement council, most of whom are settlers.

He explained that there are 7 new pastoral outposts in the Jordan Valley, the latest of which is in the lands of the Palestinian community of Umm al-Jamal, which the occupation tried by all means to displace but could not due to the legal follow-up to prevent its demolition, but the community was deported a month and a half ago due to the establishment of a settlement outpost within the community and the attacks and rampage of the settlers that accompanied it, which made the residents lose the element of security in their lives, prevented them from grazing and closed the area completely.

Regarding the reality of settlement in the Jordan Valley, Basharat pointed out that the Jordan Valley constitutes 28.5% of the area of the West Bank, and is the richest part in wealth and the food basket of Palestine, while it is the second most important water basin. The occupation has controlled most of these lands under flimsy names.

He explained that there are 6 settlement outposts and 8 army camps that control 186 thousand dunams in the northern Jordan Valley. They control 186 thousand dunams with military orders under the name of "closed military areas" and "army training areas." Citizens are prohibited from entering them, and any vehicle that enters them is confiscated. They have built trenches, destroyed the lands with bulldozers and tanks, and burned the crops.

There are 75 thousand dunams in the Jordan Valley declared as nature reserves and controlled by the Israeli Nature Authority. They are closed to Palestinian farmers, and livestock is confiscated if they enter them, and heavy fines are imposed on their owners.

Basharat confirms that all components of the occupation, from the police, the nature authority, and the army, work within the system of the settlers and their gangs, and there are 5-6 people who give instructions to the police, the army, and the settler gangs in the northern Jordan Valley, and within minutes an army of settler gangs is summoned and attacks the farmers and their property.

He said that the Nature Authority handed over these lands to the settlers, and they are linking these settlements and creating outposts between them to establish a large settlement city.

He stressed that there is no source of water in the hands of the Palestinians after the occupation took control of all the springs in the northern Jordan Valley, and the citizen needs to travel long distances to obtain water at a very high cost.

Basharat calls for the development of a real national program that can be implemented on the ground, in order to enhance the steadfastness of citizens and to establish the necessary mechanisms for that.

A basic rule for Judaization that began 4 years ago

In turn, Raed Muqaddadi, a researcher in land and settlement issues at the Land Research Center, said that pastoral settlement is an idea that began its roots four years ago through a settlement organization financially supported by the Israeli government and right-wing parties. It is a racist movement that aims to control vast areas of Palestinian land, especially the land located between the mountains and population centers, and to take over the pastoral land that was used by shepherds.

Muqaddasi describes the pastoral outposts as the “right hand” of settlement in the West Bank, and the basic base on which the occupation is betting to Judaize the remaining lands of the West Bank.

He explained that these hotbeds are widely spread in the Palestinian countryside, especially in the northern Jordan Valley and the Jordan Valley in general, the Shafaghour areas in the Ramallah desert, the Jerusalem desert, and parts of the Hebron desert.

He pointed out the methods adopted by settlers in pastoral areas, including attacks on farmers and sheep breeders, and fencing off vast areas of land to control the land and displace its inhabitants.

Muqaddasi explained the difference between regular and pastoral settlements, stating that regular settlements are bodies established by the occupation with the aim of seizing land, and they are subject to organized regional councils and to their own regulatory plans and systems, while the outposts surrounding these settlements are considered a means of expanding these settlements and extending their influence.

He explained that the settlements are rings that exist between Palestinian population centers in the countryside and the Jordan Valley, and these outposts are considered a means to connect these rings together to form a single body in the future, such that this body is able to seize what remains of the Palestinian land and displace the remaining Palestinians, as well as extend influence over the lands that the Palestinians cannot access as a result of the settlers’ harassment, which paves the way for the Judaization of these lands and the establishment of a huge settlement bloc on them and the change in the demographic distribution of the population, which will have negative consequences in terms of the Palestinian population presence and control over natural resources and water shares in the West Bank.

Regarding the reality of settlement in the Salfit Governorate, Muqaddadi explained that the danger of settlement there is no less than what is happening in the Jordan Valley. In comparison to 19 Palestinian population centers in Salfit, there are 23 settlements sitting on their lands, in addition to 3 pastoral centers on the lands of the towns of Kafr ad-Dik, Yasuf, and Deir Istiya.

Pastoral centers in Salfit are based on creating a connection to form a single settlement bloc

He said that the pastoral centers in Salfit are based on creating a connection between those settlements to form a single settlement bloc, extending from "Eli Zahav" in the west of the governorate, to the "Tafuh" settlement in the east.

He pointed out that the danger of settlement in Salfit is multi-faceted. On the one hand, the governorate's lands have become scattered and there is no geographical connection between the villages, which is fraught with danger due to the presence of settlements, outposts or settlement roads.

He added that Salfit, which was the first governorate in olive oil production, has now declined, and there are 1,800 dunams whose owners were unable to reach to pick olives this year due to their proximity to the settlements, and even the lands that the occupation claims it has given permits to work on, the farmers were unable to reach due to settler attacks.

Even the natural, archaeological and historical resources in Salfit were stolen by the settlers, transferred to the settlements and rebuilt within the settlements to give a false historical character to the settlements.

In addition, the governorate’s lands are witnessing the construction of roads linking the settlements, and the areas in which the roads are being constructed cannot be reached by the Palestinian farmer under the pretext that they are areas with a security dimension, and therefore he cannot be present in them, farm them or invest in them, and this will expose the agricultural sector to great danger.

He pointed out that the occupation has intensified the demolition operations and notifications in Salfit, in an indication that the occupation is working to prevent any Palestinian presence in Area C, and in return there is a very fierce settlement attack through the creation of settlement outposts, connecting roads and infrastructure that pave the way for the formation of a huge and large settlement bloc on the lands of the governorate.

This comes in implementation of the Herzl Conference to establish an area called “Ariel Fingers”, which is a very large settlement bloc whose area exceeds the area of Palestinian villages and residential communities. In return, this bloc will be linked to Israel and the occupation will seek to apply Israeli law to it after a short period, thus completely Judaizing the lands of the governorate and turning it into a disaster-stricken governorate whose residents lack the most basic necessities of life, such as infrastructure and the right to housing.

Muqaddadi believes that a two-part plan should be developed: the first is to support farmers and agricultural products through a practical, applicable plan, and the second is to focus on the legal dimension and legal follow-up to confront the demolitions and allocate a new budget to the Settlement Confrontation Authority to appoint additional lawyers.

Pastoral settlement is a new method

Suhail Khaliliya, a researcher specializing in settlement affairs, confirmed that pastoral settlement is a new method developed by the settlement project to seize the largest possible area of land.

Khaliliya said that the regular settlements started and grew through Israeli systems and laws that violate international law, and took budgets within the systems and laws, and their growth process was slow, and during the period since 1967 the occupation was only able to build this amount of settlements on an area of 200 thousand dunams, but since the agricultural, religious and tourist outposts began and the latest and most ferocious of them are the pastoral outposts, the settlers have seized an area of more than 300 thousand dunams during the last four years, and there is a possibility of expanding to 400-450 thousand dunams.

He explained that these outposts take the space they want, and enjoy immunity from the Settlements Council, various ministries, and the Civil Administration.

He stressed that the core of the settlement project is to seize the largest possible area of land, in implementation of the directives of the “father of the settlement outposts,” former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, when he told the settlers in 1998, “You must go and seize the largest area of land because what we own today will remain with us, and what we cannot own we will have to return to the Palestinians.”

He pointed out that the occupation is exploiting the status of land ownership in the so-called (C) areas because they are still under investigation and most of them are properties in the names of people who died a long time ago.

The Palestinian Authority was unable to complete land registration procedures in (C).

He pointed out that the Palestinian Authority was unable to complete the land registration procedures in Area C, and the occupation is trying to control the largest amount of land in order to determine the form of any negotiations that may take place in the future.

He stressed that the settlers are seizing lands in violation of even Israeli laws, taking advantage of the presence of people like Smotrich, who has taken all the powers of the Civil Administration to bypass the settlement outposts’ law, and he can provide the necessary budgets for these outposts and provide them with all the infrastructure they need, all with the encouragement of the government.

Khaliliya believes that we are living in a new phase today, which is the development of the settlement project. He said: “We are seeing during this period unprecedented settlement, and the land confiscation operations that reached their peak during the current year are unprecedented in 20 years.”

Regarding the impact of this form of settlement on rural development, Khaliliya explained that before the occupation, the Jordan Valley was a vibrant area, with 250,000 people living there. However, now its population does not exceed 70,000 people because the occupation has taken control of water sources and the movement of citizens, thus ending rural agricultural life in that area, and many of its residents have begun to move to nearby areas and city centers.

He added that before 1967, 75% of the Palestinian community depended on agriculture, but now it does not exceed 6% because the occupation has controlled water resources and agricultural lands.

The aim of hitting rural life

He stressed that the aim of striking rural life is to push the largest possible number of generations to migrate from rural areas to urban areas, so that it is easier to seize land.

He said that there is a plan by successive occupation governments to establish a state for settlers in the West Bank, and the foundations for it have been laid for years by forming a network of bypass roads, seizing the largest area of land, seizing natural resources, and separating and dividing the Palestinian territories geographically.

He explained that the occupation is drawing a political and geographical reality that means building a state for settlers in the heart of Palestinian communities. This aims to create a dispute over land ownership to show it as a dispute between Palestinian and Israeli civilians. For this reason, the occupation has established an armed army and separated and isolated the Palestinian areas through crossings and barriers. It has begun to create a new political geography in the West Bank that will have repercussions in the future because it will lead to a war no less hideous than what is happening in the Gaza Strip, because the occupation will give the settlers every opportunity to monopolize Palestinian natural resources, divide the West Bank, and seize lands, thus creating a new geographical reality. For this reason, the rural areas are being emptied in a systematic and organized manner so that they can implement this plan.

He stressed the need to work to protect the Jordan Valley, because it is actually the remaining area for the Palestinians to build on and lay the foundations for the Palestinian state.

Pastoral foci are neither random nor spontaneous.

For his part, Suhail Al-Salman, an activist specializing in settlement issues, refuses to describe the pastoral outposts as random outposts. There is nothing random or spontaneous in the settlement movements, and any bulldozing operation, no matter how simple, means that it is part of a project that may be implemented now or years from now.

Al-Salman said that settlers have recently focused on three types of settlements; the first is establishing settlement fingers by building connected human settlement chains that divide the West Bank into parts, such as the “Ariel Finger” that extends from Kafr Qasim in the interior, then the “Oranit” settlement near Salfit, and ending in the Jordan Valley. This chain separates the north of the West Bank from its south.

The second type is converting lands that were seized as military zones into “state lands.” According to international law, these lands are supposed to return to their owners when the military need ends.

The area of these lands is more than one million dunams, representing 18% of the area of the West Bank. After October 7, 24 thousand dunams were transferred through 7 military orders and transformed from military sites into state lands.

The third type is represented by the trend towards pastoral settlement, for several reasons, the most dangerous of which is the speed and ease of seizing land, which is more effective and does not result in protests, and this is the basic function for which pastoral settlement was created.

He stressed that this settlement is not random, but rather planned, and falls within their project to annex as much land as possible in Area C and parts of Area B and confine the Palestinians to separate population centers.

He considers that pastoral settlement is the fastest way to control the largest area of land, and this is a literal application of the deal of the century.

Despite the bleakness of the scene, Al-Salman believes that we have a lot to do to confront pastoral settlement, but that requires political will to put an end to the division that has weakened the Palestinian position, and not to underestimate the centrality of the Palestinian issue, which emerged after October 7.

He added that our people have thwarted many dangerous projects over the past decades, and the occupation can be confronted by adopting a national plan whose main title is to strengthen steadfastness on the ground.

He said: "There must be a national plan to deliver water to the farmers in the Jordan Valley by any means, with the support of the Authority, even if at the expense of anything else."

He stressed that what is required is to provide the living requirements for the residents of the Jordan Valley, including kindergartens and health centers, adding: "We need a comprehensive plan to transform the Jordan Valley from a repulsive environment to an attractive environment for citizens."