About two weeks ago, Palestinian citizen Yasser Abu Aram, from the northern Jordan Valley, faced a new chapter in his endless suffering after Israeli occupation forces stormed the Ras al-Ahmar community, demolished and dismantled his tents and all of his facilities, and seized them.

About a month earlier, Abu Aram, along with his sons and their families, five families totaling 35 individuals, were forcibly displaced from the Wadi al-Faw community where they lived. They were the last families to be forcibly displaced from the area, with families being displaced one after the other over the course of a year and a half, coinciding with the aggression on the Gaza Strip, as settler attacks in the area escalated and reached extremely dangerous levels.

The forced displacement faced by the Abu Aram family is similar to what hundreds of families have recently faced in the West Bank, particularly in the eastern foothills and Jordan Valley, where settlers backed by the occupation forces have increasingly targeted them. Displacement has escalated to an unprecedented level, coinciding with the war of extermination on the Gaza Strip over the past year and a half.

Data from the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission indicates that 29 communities in the West Bank have been displaced since October 2023.

Speaking to local sources, Abu Aram recounted the details of the settler violence he and his sons and their families endured over the past two months. This violence ultimately forced him to leave Wadi al-Faw, leading to the persecution, demolition, and dismantling of his facilities by the occupation forces in the Ras al-Ahmar area, where he had recently moved, forcing him to leave as well.

Abu Aram points out that life for residents of Wadi al-Faw has become hell over the past decade, following the establishment of two pastoral outposts by settlers on the eastern and western sides of the community. The first of the outposts was established in 2015, while the second was established in 2019.

He asserts that, for many years, he has not known a sense of security, as the settlers have spared no effort to terrorize and assault the residents, forcing them to leave their homes and communities in the Jordan Valley. They then fence off these lands and incorporate them into existing settlements and outposts.

Settler attacks ranged from assaulting citizens in their homes, to assaulting them, to harassing them over their livelihoods, which depend on livestock, by pursuing them in pastures and preventing them from entering them, in addition to trampling over livestock while grazing or stealing them.

Abu Aram adds: "All the suffering we have endured from the settlers over the years is nothing compared to the cruelty we witnessed from them during the last few days before our departure from Wadi al-Faw. At the end of last February, settlers from nearby outposts set up a tent a few meters from our homes, and that's when things started to get more dangerous."

For days afterward, the Abu Aram family lived under what he described as a state of siege, experiencing many forms of fear and being subjected to round-the-clock intimidation and attacks by armed settlers. They were then forcibly removed from the community at the beginning of March, heading to the Ras al-Ahmar area.

According to Mahdi Daraghmeh, head of the Al-Malih Village Council and Bedouin encampments, 13 families were living in the Wadi al-Faw community about a year and a half ago. These families were displaced one by one due to settler terrorism, the most recent being the family of Yasser Abu Aram and his sons, who number five.

Draghmeh estimates that more than 30 families from the northern Jordan Valley alone have been forcibly displaced from their homes due to settler attacks. This coincides with the ongoing aggression on the Gaza Strip, which has been ongoing since October 2023.

Data from the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission also indicates that 29 communities in the West Bank were subjected to forced displacement during the same period. This represents a multiple of the displacements during the previous period. Over the two years prior, only four communities were displaced.

Draghmeh adds that the northern Jordan Valley, which has witnessed escalating settler attacks aimed at forcibly displacing its residents, is also being subjected to an unprecedented assault by the occupation forces, in a clear merging of roles.

He asserts that the occupation forces have recently seized large areas of land, in addition to implementing new laws that allow for the demolition of structures without prior notice. This was recently implemented with the Abu Aram family in the Ras al-Ahmar area, as well as other families in the Jordan Valley.

After the Abu Aram family was displaced from Wadi al-Faw and relocated to Ras al-Ahmar, they began experiencing new forms of suffering in the area where they had settled. The demolition and seizure operations carried out by the occupation forces included all their residential facilities, livestock pens, and their possessions, including electric generators, solar energy systems, and water tanks and tanks.

As a result, the family was forced to move again to a neighboring land in the same Ras al-Ahmar area, where they endured difficult and arduous conditions, while the threat of displacement continued to haunt them.

The family also suffered livestock losses when the occupation forces dismantled the pens while the livestock were inside. A number of iron poles and bars fell on them, leading to the deaths of approximately 10 heads of livestock, one after the other, over the following days. Abu Aram fears further losses to his livestock, which he relies on for his livelihood, due to the damage they sustained and the fact that they are now homeless.

Abu Aram, who owns around 2,000 head of cattle with his sons, asserts that he used to own a larger number in previous years, but that his livestock has gradually diminished in recent years due to several factors, all related to violations and restrictions imposed by settlers and occupation forces, including the persecution of shepherds, the seizure of pastureland, and the remaining springs and water sources.

As a result, shepherds have lost access to water and pasture, and the land has become increasingly cramped for them. They are now forced to purchase fodder year-round and transport water by tanker truck from neighboring areas. This is also a dangerous journey, as residents are subjected to harassment by settlers and occupation forces, who often seize the tankers.

A research paper issued by the Institute for Palestine Studies, published in September 2024, entitled "The Reality of the Agricultural Sector in the Jordan Valley after October 7, 2023," indicates that "before 1967, the Jordan Valley was home to approximately 320,000 Palestinians, but this number has decreased significantly due to the ongoing forced displacement policies implemented by the occupation."

Today, the number of Palestinians in the Jordan Valley does not exceed 65,000, distributed across 27 population centers (Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2023). Meanwhile, the number of Israeli settlers has doubled to more than 15,000, living in 37 settlements that seize over 50% of agricultural land (B'Tselem, 2023). These demographic shifts aim to alter the demographic composition of the Jordan Valley and facilitate Israeli control over the region.

According to the paper, "The challenges facing the agricultural and pastoral sector in the Jordan Valley have increased since October 7, 2023, as a result of the Israeli occupation's war of extermination against Gaza and the systematic ethnic displacement campaigns in the West Bank. During this period, the Jordan Valley witnessed an unprecedented escalation in attacks on farmers and shepherds, including the destruction of crops, the cutting down of fruit trees, and the displacement of shepherds from pastures."

These attacks not only aim to undermine agriculture and grazing, but also seek to empty the Jordan Valley of its Palestinian inhabitants, turning it into a purely colonial area.

A recent report by the Israeli anti-settlement movement Peace Now confirms that "the past year, 2024, was marked by a policy of reducing Palestinian space in Areas C and B, and expanding the Israeli presence in these areas."

The report adds that "at least 59 new colonial outposts have been established, most of them agricultural outposts, participating in the land grab and systematic displacement of Palestinians from the area," stressing that "this is an unprecedented number of new colonial outposts. From 1996 to the beginning of 2023, an annual average of less than 7 outposts were established."