Palestinians and Israeli activists hit by increasing settler attacks in Jordan Valley

In the same week that Israeli ministers voted unanimously to occupy the Gaza Strip after 19 months of war, a Palestinian shepherding family about 120km away in the Hamra area of the occupied West Bank suffered a devastating attack at the hands of Israeli settlers.

Amid all the carnage in the region, be it Gaza or the northern West Bank cities that are more than 100 days into an unprecedented Israeli military operation, the attack on this normally quiet patch of land in the Jordan Valley barely registered on more than a few Palestinian social media channels.

“They’re mad. Five days ago they came and broke everything, scared away the sheep and beat my father in the face, who is still in the hospital in Tubas,” a shepherd of the Abu Seif family told The National. He pointed to a vandalised window on one of the simple structures used by the family and livestock, as two children ran around his feet.

“Thank God he’s getting better. He’s coming back today.”

The shepherd’s flock, originally numbering 300, is almost certainly not coming back. On the day of the latest attack it was down to 75, after other incidents of violent intimidation by settlers in which animals fled or were probably stolen. Now the Abu Seif family have none and, therefore, no income.

“It’s all I know how to do to make a living,” the shepherd explained, as a female relative handed out fresh bread to guests under a thin metal roof as rain pummelled down.

There has been a sharp increase in settler violence across the West Bank since the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel by Hamas. Global attention is elsewhere and perpetrators, many of them carrying arms and dressed in military uniforms after laws were relaxed by Israel’s far-right coalition, feel emboldened.

Only a small group of activists have been with the family since its catastrophic loss. Some are from abroad, but the ones that know the Abu Seifs best are Jewish Israelis. They are part of a tiny group who sign up for “protective presence” missions in the region. Their primary purpose is to be present at the time of attacks, because authorities are far more likely to act against violent settlers if other Israelis are there.

It is dangerous work and clashes happen very often. Elie Avidor, one of the most experienced activists, said even successful court action against the Abu Seif family’s chief tormentor, settler Moshe Sharvit, was proving ineffective.

“He comes and drives into the herd with his ATV. He had a drone, big speakers, all to drive the sheep crazy. If they were pregnant they would lose their babies,” Mr Avidor explained.

Last year Sharvit was sanctioned by the UK, Canada the EU and the Biden administration in the US, until President Donald Trump lifted the sanctions. Many of the outposts such as Sharvit’s are illegal even under Israeli law, although legalising them is a key priority of some members of Israel’s ultra-nationalist coalition.

“We managed successfully to get two restriction orders against him and another guy. He’s not allowed to get 30 metres close to this compound, but he doesn’t listen,” Mr Avidor added.

“See how he’s expanded,” he said, pointing down the hill to a series of white structures. “His place used to be one caravan, now it is a tourism site, where other settlers come for the holidays to be with him in the 'Land of Israel'.”

As he spoke, Sharvit’s ATV was spotted moving towards the community. “He might be coming,” Mr Avidor said. “Turn the cars around so it is easy to get out and escape.” Members of the Abu Seif family present, including the children, barely registered the potential arrival of the armed settler.

Speaking from a nearby hilltop, Jewish Israeli activist Peretz Gan, an Arabic speaker who barrels around the occupied West Bank in a beaten up four-by-four, said: “It is important to realise that this is all orchestrated from the top.

“One lunatic on a hilltop with a few psychopathic, sadistic youngsters to help him take over is all supported by the government. Only a few weeks ago [far-right Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich was giving these outposts ATVs. He was so proud of himself.”

Indeed, just a day after The National visited the region, Mr Smotrich spoke at a right-wing conference about how he was advancing plans to “kill the Palestinian state de facto” through the use of the settlements, including the newer sort of outposts and farms seen in the Jordan Valley.

While traditional, residential settlements tend to be more densely populated enclaves close to the border with sovereign Israel, farming outposts allow the most radical settlers to place themselves anywhere. They can extend Israeli presence over vast tracts of land, through grazing, fencing and planting crops, with very little manpower.

They get a willing workforce by advertising themselves as places to host teenage school drop-outs and delinquents, widely called the Hilltop Youth. Activists say that young men with such profiles make for particularly violent attacks.

“The system they’ve found only two or three years ago is very successful. They’re taking over huge amounts of land,” Mr Gan added.

Mr Smotrich said at the conference that "each of these farms will eventually need to be legalised and some will likely become settlements”. He also said that 86 such farms covered more than 50,000 hectares.

At the same conference, President Isaac Herzog, seen by many in Israel as a political moderate, said “the settlement project is Israel’s shield”, calling the communities “essential, glorious and flourishing”. The vast majority of the international community, including many of Israel's most important allies, say all settlements in occupied territory are illegal.

Trudging up a dusty hill adorned with Israel flags next to another frequently targeted shepherd just down the road, Eszter Koranyi, of Israeli NGO Combatants for Peace, spoke to The National. She talked about the painful feelings that come with her work at a time when the settlers, who used to attack her and her Palestinian friends, have never had so much wind in their sails.

She no longer engages in protective presence, saying the commitment to rise so early and spend so much time away from home in dangerous places is not possible now that she has a family. Instead, she organises tours of the area to spread the word about what is going on and to show “that not all Israelis are like this”.

“I feel so embarrassed as an Israeli that the flag that is supposed somehow to represent my country is used for this. It’s just terrible,” she said.