RAMALLAH, Palestine

Illegal Israeli settlers on Saturday forced Palestinian families to leave their residential area in the village of al-Auja, north of the city of Jericho in the eastern occupied West Bank, a week after they had already been displaced along with other families from the Bedouin Shalal al-Auja community in the area.

Iyad Kaabneh, one of those displaced from the Shalal al-Auja community, told Anadolu that Israeli settlers warned him and his family on Saturday morning against remaining in their place of residence in the Wadi Abu al-Hayyat area of al-Auja village, forcing them to move to another area he did not specify.

Kaabneh said he had been displaced a week earlier from the Shalal al-Auja community following threats, harassment, and repeated settler attacks on the area.

For his part, Hassan Malihat, general supervisor of the rights group Al-Baidar, said the Shalal al-Auja community has become “completely empty” after the departure of 121 families, comprising about 1,000 people, over the past week.

Malihat told Anadolu that the families were forced to leave amid severe harassment, assaults, and pressure by the Israeli army and settlers, including the theft of livestock, the burning of tents, the confiscation of agricultural tractors, restrictions on grazing, and the cutting of water supplies.

He said the displaced families are living in “tragic conditions” and have moved to areas south of al-Auja, with some relocating to the al-Jiftlik and Fasayil areas north of Jericho.

Al-Auja Spring is one of the most important and well-known water springs in the Jordan Valley in the eastern West Bank and is also a popular tourist site frequented by Palestinians during the summer due to its abundant water.

According to Palestinian figures, Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,110 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and injured nearly 11,000 others since October 2023.

The International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal in a landmark opinion in July 2024 and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Rania Abushamala in Istanbul.