More Palestinian families flee Israeli settler attacks on West Bank Bedouin community
Thirty more Palestinian families from a Bedouin community in the occupied West Bank have fled their homes, following repeated assaults and harassment from Israeli settlers under the protection of Israeli forces, the Wafa news agency is reporting.
As we reported earlier, 20 families from the al-Mleihat Bedouin community, located northwest of Jericho in the east of the occupied West Bank, had previously packed up their possessions and fled their homes, following an escalation in attacks by Israeli settlers in recent weeks. Prior to the forced displacement, the community was home to 85 families, numbering about 500 people.
One woman, Alia al-Mleihat, told Wafa that her family was forced to flee to the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp, south of Jericho, after armed settlers threatened her and other families at gunpoint.
Hassan al-Mleihat, general coordinator of the Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights, said the remaining families were also preparing to leave amid the escalating aggression from Israeli settlers, which included beatings, theft and poisoning of livestock, blocking of roads and destruction of tents. The harassment was carried out under the protection of Israeli authorities, he said.
Palestinian community in West Bank ‘entirely depopulated’ by Israeli settlers
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has released the footage below to show how an attack earlier today by Israeli settlers forced an entire community in the occupied West Bank to relocate to other areas.
Israeli settlers have increasingly ramped up their violent attacks, many of which are carried out with support from Israeli troops, amid the war on Gaza.
In the first half of 2025, over 740 settler attacks impacted more than 200 Palestinian communities across the #WestBank.
Today, one of them – Muarrajat East Community in #JordanValley – was entirely depopulated by settlers.
Hear from those living through this violence. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/vHyWGzq9gU
— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) July 4, 2025
Snapshot of Israeli settler violence in the West Bank
According to the latest figures from the UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA), between the beginning of 2024 and the end of May of this year, at least 2,074 attacks by Israeli settlers resulted in casualties and/or property damage in the West Bank.
Of those, the highest number of settler attacks – 496 – were reported in areas north of Ramallah, followed by 417 incidents near Nablus, in the northern West Bank. Another 383 settler attacks were reported near the southern city of Hebron.
Over the same period, at least 1,038 Palestinians were displaced as a result of settler violence and access restrictions, OCHA said.
