Israeli occupation police arrested several foreign activists on Wednesday as they attempted to resist a settler assault on the Palestinian village of Shallal Al-Auja, located north of Jericho in the occupied Jordan Valley.

According to the Al-Baydar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights, a group of Israeli settlers stormed the village, deliberately herding sheep into residential and agricultural areas. The incursion resulted in the destruction of vital crops, posing a direct threat to the livelihoods of local Palestinian families who depend heavily on farming and animal husbandry.

The rights group reported that both local residents and international activists intervened to repel the settlers and drive the livestock away from homes. However, Israeli occupation forces quickly arrived at the scene—not to stop the settlers—but to provide them with protection and detain several of the activists who stood with the villagers.

Settlers Use Livestock as a Weapon

Al-Baydar highlighted that this form of harassment—using livestock to trample crops and disrupt daily life—is not an isolated incident. “This is part of a systematic policy aimed at intimidating local communities and pressuring them to abandon their lands,” the organization said.

Such acts of aggression have become increasingly frequent in the Jordan Valley, with settler attacks escalating in both severity and frequency. Despite clear evidence of provocation and destruction, settlers continue to operate with impunity under the protection of Israeli forces, according to local and international human rights observers.

Daily Aggression and Impunity

“This scene has become almost a daily occurrence in many parts of the Jordan Valley,” Al-Baydar stated. “There is a growing pattern of coordinated attacks on Palestinian communities, paired with a complete lack of accountability for the settlers involved.”

The ongoing aggression adds to the already dire situation in the occupied territories, where Palestinian families face land confiscations, home demolitions, water restrictions, and now increasingly aggressive settler violence.

Rights groups have called on the international community to intervene and ensure protection for Palestinian civilians and foreign solidarity activists facing state-backed settler violence in the occupied West Bank. (ILKHA)