Thousands of settlers flood Jordan Valley spring as Palestinians flee violence.

In the Jordan Valley of the occupied West Bank, the Jewish festival of Passover has become a starkly different event for two groups. While some celebrate, thousands of Palestinians face the continued reality of displacement driven by settler violence. Haitham al-Zayed, a 24-year-old man, recalls his childhood fondly, remembering the lush pools of al-Auja where neighbors gathered to swim and cool off on hot days.

That scene of community life ended for Haitham and his family three months ago. They were forcibly pushed out of Shallal al-Auja, a site situated beside a stream fed by the al-Auja spring in the southern occupied West Bank. The displacement was the result of sustained pressure from Jewish settlers.

When Passover arrived at the start of this month, Haitham was unsurprised yet horrified to see thousands of settlers converge on the very spring he once knew. In footage circulating through settler chat groups, children waded and splashed in the natural pools where Haitham had swam as a boy. Nearby, parents barbecued and spoke to cameras with palpable excitement. One man declared, "Happy holiday! Look at this wonder," adding that after years when Jews were barred from the area, the people of Israel had returned to their land.

The video explicitly credited a specific group for making this return possible: the so-called hilltop youth. These networks of young settlers have engaged in systematic violence against Palestinians, driving out dozens of communities across the West Bank since 2023. The narrator asked, "Do you know thanks to whom this wonderful thing happened?" before answering that it was thanks to a few teenagers, roughly 16 years old, moving through the area with their flocks to "stubbornly redeem the land for us."

For Haitham, watching this celebration from his new location was difficult. He and his family have been moved to a desert patch in mountainous terrain known as Jabal al-Birka. This area lies roughly 5 kilometers from Shallal al-Auja and remains in direct sight of the spring. In the background of the settlers' festivities, Haitham could see the ruins of structures that were damaged or burned during months of escalating violence. "It's not just one incident," he stated. "It's all systematic. It's tied to the expansion of annexation in the West Bank."

The scale of this displacement is documented by the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. According to OCHA, 1,727 Palestinians from 36 communities in the West Bank were displaced in the first three months of 2026 alone. This number is attributed to settler violence and access restrictions, and it already surpasses the highest annual figures recorded in any of the previous three years.

Allegra Pacheco, chief of party for the West Bank Protection Consortium, views these events with grave concern. The consortium is a strategic partnership involving several international organizations and nearly a dozen European Union donor countries, working to prevent the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Area C. Pacheco argues that the video represents more than mere provocation; it could serve as evidence of the intentional celebration of violence used to forcibly displace Palestinians, a serious violation of international law. She noted that praising such actions demonstrates the current impunity and lack of accountability facing these groups.

The displacement described by Haitham was not the result of a single event but a prolonged process. As the situation unfolds, the focus remains on the systematic nature of the expulsions and the survival of communities facing these aggressive tactics.

For years, local settlers conducted provocative tours around the community before a dramatic shift occurred in October 2023. Following Israel's intensified war on Gaza and accompanying raids in the West Bank, armed settlers blocked access to the al-Auja spring and its canals. This action severed the Palestinian community's main water source and destroyed their traditional summer gathering spots.

Settlers driving all-terrain vehicles, which are funded by the Israeli government, chased livestock and children while operating from unauthorized outposts. These locations are technically illegal under both Israeli and international law. Israeli soldiers, often accompanied by settlers in military fatigues, raided homes to detain residents based solely on settler claims. Haitham reported that his family alone lost about 400 sheep to these thefts.

By January of this year, the families of Shallal al-Auja and the adjacent Ras Ein al-Auja concluded they had no choice but to flee. Haitham's family was among those forced to leave after months of targeted violence. Now he spends his days longing for the friends he grew up with and the football pitch where they played every evening. He also remembers the funerals and weddings that once bound their Bedouin community together.

The former community now exists only as a dispersed group across the West Bank. They receive aid from international organizations that is likely to end soon, while suffering from a severe lack of electricity and other essential infrastructure. Haitham states that they are merely fighting for survival as the joy of living together has dissipated into a daily struggle to simply exist.

Passover brought a rash of videos showing settlers picnicking, hiking, and praying in areas Palestinians had recently been driven from. Pacheco explained this as an organized effort where settlers intentionally selected areas in the West Bank under partial or total Palestinian administrative control. This represents a deliberate push beyond Area C, which remains under full Israeli control. She noted this reflects a hardening of settler ideology where the goal has become to empty Area C and push Palestinians into Areas B and A.

A new slogan has gained currency in settler chat groups: "Marching towards the expulsion of the enemy." This march pushed forward recently in Hammam al-Maleh, a once-touristic area in the northern Jordan Valley featuring hot springs and Mamluk-era remains. With settler shepherds employing the same violent playbook used elsewhere, the Palestinian shepherding community faced near-wholesale evacuation in the past month.

Videos spread during Passover showed hundreds of settlers gathering for music and prayers just outside Hammam al-Maleh's abandoned school. The school had not long ago served more than 100 students from the surrounding area. Muhammad, who asked that his full name not be used to avoid retribution, is the last permanent resident refusing to leave. He noted that the displaced families watching the video from wherever they scattered were extremely hurt by seeing their homes in the background.

They witnessed the very ground from which they were forcibly removed."

The cycle of aggression observed by Muhammad in Hammam al-Maleh closely resembles the incidents reported by Haitham in the al-Auja region. These events involve the unauthorized introduction of livestock into private dwellings, assaults on property, and the harassment of women and children. In these instances, the Israeli military frequently intervenes to support settlers rather than protect Palestinian residents, often resulting in the detention of locals.

Recent months have seen particularly severe attacks in the northern Jordan Valley. Reports include a sexual assault against a father in front of his bound children in Khirbet Hamsa al-Fawqa and a violent beating of an elderly man in Tayasir. According to Muhammad, these aggressors show no compassion. Their objective is not merely the removal of able-bodied men but the specific targeting of those unable to defend themselves, such as the young and the old.

"They do not seek the land itself," Muhammad stated. "Their sole purpose is to drive Palestinians out."

On March 8, Gilad Shriki, commander of the Jordan Valley Brigade, issued a directive to Hammam al-Maleh and neighboring communities to vacate the area. He declared that Area C would soon be cleared of Palestinian inhabitants, a claim echoed by local activists.

Haitham has since relocated his household and approximately 120 families from other displaced communities to the southern Jordan Valley. This new site, situated in Area A on land administered by the Islamic Waqf, was intended as a sanctuary. However, Haitham noted that the same individuals responsible for prior harassment have reappeared in the vicinity, continuing provocations such as land invasions and chasing children with all-terrain vehicles.

Driven by safety concerns, Muhammad moved his wife and four young children, including a disabled nine-year-old daughter, to Tayasir in Area B. Yet, the settlers who attacked them in Hammam al-Maleh followed them, now pursuing them in their new location.

"There is a persistent pattern of chasing Palestinians, even after they attempt to flee, to force another displacement," Muhammad explained. "That is why I refuse to move; I know this situation will not resolve itself."

According to the latest data from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 5,600 individuals have been displaced since 2023. The crisis has expanded well beyond the original jurisdictional scope of the West Bank Protection Consortium regarding Area C. Pacheco highlighted a troubling escalation involving armed settlers killing Palestinians.

On April 8, settlers shot and killed Alaa Sobeih inside his greenhouse in Tayasir, a location where Muhammad and many others from Hammam al-Maleh had sought refuge. Pacheco referenced United Nations early warning indicators for mass atrocities. She described the combination of incitement, the lack of accountability for non-state actors committing violence against a specific ethnic group, and the subsequent public celebration of these acts as deeply disturbing. She warned that the current trajectory could lead to imminent and severe consequences.

Despite the demolition of neighboring homes in Hammam al-Maleh, Muhammad remains steadfast in his refusal to depart. He stated that if he is absent, others may be targeted. He noted that if aggressors entered his home while he was away, they would likely post celebratory photographs online. Even amidst isolation and violence, he stays to prove his ownership of the land.

During a brief three-day absence for Eid to visit his family, settlers stripped the community of generators, electrical cables, and solar panels, leaving them without reliable power. Muhammad returned to his home regardless.

With no livestock available for grazing, he now patrols the community daily.

Local settlers are aware of his presence, and he ensures they know it. Muhammad, determined not to depart, stated clearly: "I was born here. I was raised here. I am not willing to leave. Even if I die here – I will die happy, because I stayed on my land.