WATCH: Israeli Settlers and ultra-Orthodox Reservists Force West Bank Shepherds to Flee - Palestinians
At 9:30 A.M. last Saturday, soldiers accompanied by settlers arrived at the homes of the Al-Aqaba shepherd community in the Jordan Valley, and not for the first time. In the days preceding their arrival, according to records and locals, they had received several such "visits." That Saturday, the soldiers threatened them, saying that if they did not leave, their lives would be in danger. In the following hours, four of the nine families that make up this community started packing. By Monday, the entire community had left.
Their relatively peaceful lives there had been transformed beyond recognition in just a few days. Haaretz has learned that about a week and a half ago, the military force at the Tayasir checkpoint was replaced by a reserve force made up of veterans of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion – an infantry unit originally created to accommodate ultra-Orthodox soldiers and associated with right-wing ideology and racist violence. Locals say that after their arrival, a series of incidents began in which settlers and soldiers collaborated, driving the community away.
On Sunday, the residents of Khirbet Yarza, to the south of Al-Aqaba, who have been living on privately owned, registered land, also packed their belongings. For weeks, they had faces harassment and threats. However, since early this month these have intensified, and by Monday they too had fled. A few houses belonging to one extended family – the Masa'eed family from Khirbet Yarza – are still standing near the checkpoint, on privately owned land.
According to H. from the Al-Aqaba community, last Tuesday evening 'people in military uniform' from the outpost showed up. 'They intimidated the children and ordered the women to get out.'
The Masa'eed family's vandalized water tank
Used in accordance with section 27A of the Copyright Law
The family now fears it will be next to go.
Al-Aqaba, a small Bedouin shepherd community, has been living since the early 2000s on registered Palestinian land near the village of Al-Aqaba, on the seam line between the northern Jordan Valley and the Menashe region, about 1.5 kilometers west of the Tayasir checkpoint. In 2025, the Tzvi Ofarim outpost was established some 250 meters east of the checkpoint.
A couple of weeks ago, this outpost marked an "achievement" with the displacement of two communities on its eastern side – Al-Burj and Al-Meiteh. Their displacement was preceded by longtime harassment by settlers, vandalism including setting fire to a structure, and the demolition of homes by the Civil Administration. It appears that the successful displacement of those communities, together with the arrival of the Netzah Yehuda reservists at the checkpoint, paved the way for the next targets: communities to the west.
Two types of soldiers
Palestinians are not quite certain when the military force replacement took place – only that within days, the mood had changed. "These soldiers have been here seven, ten days – I'm not sure exactly when they arrived," says M., a member of the Masa'eed family.
"Before them, for several months, there was an officer and some soldiers with him. When they arrived, he introduced himself and said he was in charge of the checkpoint; we said ahlan wasahlan ["welcome"], and everything was relatively calm. But ever since the new force came in, everything has changed completely. There are two types of soldiers: responsible soldiers who take care of everybody, and soldiers who are settlers, who are threatening to kill us."
According to H. from the Al-Aqaba community, last Tuesday evening "people in military uniform" from the outpost showed up. "They intimidated the children and ordered the women to get out, then searched the homes. They threw furniture on the ground and beat the men. They threw an elderly man to the ground," he says. "They threatened us, saying we must either leave that night or they would come back the next day with more settlers." According to locals, some of their phones were taken during the incident and handed back after it was over.
According to a Red Crescent statement, 12 Palestinians required medical attention following the raid; Six were treated for tear gas exposure, while six were hospitalized with injuries. Five residents were arrested and later released.
On Wednesday morning, settlers did indeed arrive from the outpost, followed by soldiers from the checkpoint. Videos obtained by Haaretz show settlers in civilian vehicles and in a military vehicle. "The soldiers approached one person and said we had to leave. When he replied that we have nowhere to go, they threatened to send settlers to burn down our houses and steal our sheep if we didn't leave," H. told Haaretz that day, adding that he had called the police and filed a complaint. Attorney Netta Amar-Shiff, representing members of this community, contacted both the police and the military's legal adviser for Judea and Samaria.
On Wednesday evening, the homes of the Masa'eed family came under attack. According to locals, phones were again taken from residents. Two family members were evacuated by the Red Crescent for medical treatment, while a third was evacuated by family members. The video shows settlers on a Ranger ATV – of the type distributed by the government to farm outposts – outside one of the houses, while children watch from inside.
"While we were having our iftar dinner [fast-breaking meal during Ramadan], two settlers showed up," recalls M. "I invited them in, and one of them gestured as if he were shooting me with a gun. You understand? I ask him, 'Will you have some coffee?' and he replies with this gesture. They then went to my cousin's house and destroyed his water tank – punched maybe ten holes in it with a knife." The video shows the tank leaking from multiple cuts. "My cousin yelled at them, which is when they brought in all their friends," says M.
Soldiers and hooded settlers in Al-Aqaba last Friday
Used in accordance with section 27A of the Copyright Law
A video recorded later shows a group of settlers approaching the entrance to M.'s home. According to M. and another relative, the settlers were joined by soldiers from the checkpoint, who took an active part in the attack. The two complaints filed with the police indicate that soldiers entered homes, allowing settlers to use pepper spray and beat and club some residents. They also indicate that women, too, were beaten and that one man had his clothes taken off while settlers poured water over him.
"The settlers and the soldiers acted as one force," says M. "An elderly cousin of ours was in his car. The settlers ordered him to get out, the soldiers searched him, and one settler told him: 'Get down on the ground and kiss my foot.'"
One video shows some figures preventing an ambulance from reaching the community. "We asked the District Coordination and Liaison Office to send the military," says M. "They said the military was already there – so I told them to send real military, not the kind that is here." Another military force eventually arrived, after which the settlers left and the ambulance was allowed in.
Footage from the stable in Al-Aqaba last Friday
Used in accordance with section 27A of the Copyright Law
For a moment it seemed the incident was over. However, a complaint filed by another family member indicates that within a few hours soldiers returned, ordering his family to sit outside in the cold and beating the men before leaving. According to family members, the soldiers returned Thursday morning. "They searched the houses and threatened us, saying we must not make trouble with the settlers," says one family member.
Meanwhile, residents of Al-Aqaba say that around 3 A.M. Thursday, the commander of the Tayasir checkpoint showed up outside their homes in a military vehicle that also carried settlers. The next morning, they say, settlers tried to steal their sheep. Videos show residents bringing back herds running across open ground with gunfire heard in the background. Around noon, a military force raided the village and community accompanied by settlers – some of whom were hooded, an act designated a criminal offense last July by Central Command chief Avi Bluth.
According to a Red Crescent statement, 12 Palestinians required medical attention following the raid; Six were treated for tear gas exposure, while six were hospitalized with injuries. Five residents were arrested and later released.
Two horses were stolen from the community. One video shows a soldier and a settler at the entrance to a stable, with a resident inside. The soldier orders, "Stop recording," pointing his gun at the cameraman before entering the stable and reaching out to stop the filming. Another video shows a settler leading the horses out of the village. Haaretz obtained videos of the horses with their owners last summer, indicating ownership. Videos recorded after the attack also show emptied water containers, spilled jars of milk and smashed solar panels.
On Saturday morning, soldiers were again recorded inside the community. According to locals, the soldiers threatened that unless they left, their lives would be in danger. That day, families began dismantling their homes and loading their possessions onto vehicles. By Monday, not one person remained. Fifty families had fled.
For weeks, settlers had also harassed the 11 families of Khirbet Yarza – 82 people living on their own land, with some houses predating 1967. According to locals, they too were approached by soldiers on Saturday and threatened that unless they left within 24 hours, they would be forcefully expelled. Most left on Sunday, and by Monday the expulsion was complete.
The military legal advisor for Judea and Samaria replied to attorney Amar-Shiff's inquiries that the military presence in Al-Aqaba on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday had been merely a "routine patrol" by the Menashe Brigade, and that "we are not aware of any complaint about threats or violence toward locals." This despite videos that also show settlers' vehicles.
As for the Friday raid, the response claimed that "the force arrived following a complaint about violence against Israelis who arrived on the scene before with (sic) security forces."
Soldiers taking M., of the Masa'eed family, from his home
Used in accordance with section 27A of the Copyright Law
"Despite attempts by soldiers to conceal the abuse of Palestinian inhabitants by covering their faces and taking away mobile phones," says attorney Amar-Shiff, "the few pictures that were taken, as well as medical reports, support evidence that the military joined violent settlers in displacing Palestinian communities."
She adds: "The military and its legal advisers have become part of the problem and a painful marker of the new regime, which sees 'occupation, displacement and settlement' as carrying out the supreme Zionist vision rather than a crime against international law."
'Not even God could help'
Of all the residents of Al-Aqaba and Khirbet Yarza, only the Masa'eed family remains. Last Saturday's wave of abuse did not spare them. "I was at home with the children, we were all still asleep," recalls M. "I opened my eyes and someone put a gun to my head: 'Get up, get up' – in front of my wife and children." He says the soldiers threw him to the floor in front of his family, then took him to a hidden spot.
Videos obtained by Haaretz show the soldiers, some of them hooded, taking M. away from the house and huddling together behind a structure. At that point M. no longer appears. By then, he says, he was already thrown to the ground. "One soldier stepped on my head and beat me. He asked why I was making trouble. I explained that I have lived here for a long time, that I have more Jewish friends than Arabs, but he yelled that he didn't care. He threatened that if anything happened in this area, I'm the only one he knows and he would come back and kill me. He then took me back home and forced me to yell at my children that if any one of them makes trouble for Jews, I will kill him."
M. falls silent, collecting himself. "But this was not enough for the soldier," he goes on. "He wanted me to shout it again, louder. So I shouted again. The children started to cry, and that, too, wasn't enough for him. He wanted me to shout even louder. This went on for about ten minutes before he was satisfied."
A few hours later, the soldiers returned. According to M., they ordered the family, including the children, to lie down on the floor.
In a complaint filed with the police, another resident testified that after soldiers took his son aside, they beat him and threatened that "if anything happens," they would arrest his mother and sister. According to the complaint, one soldier yelled: "The old Tel Aviv army is gone. We are a settler military, I am a settler," going on to say, "that all this land was his, that if a settler showed up and anyone uttered a word, they would do things to him [the son] so that not even God could help him." The complaint also states that soldiers spilled the family's food on the floor, leaving the house in disarray.
Family members say that throughout Tuesday settlers entered the area four times, wandering between houses and asking residents why they were still at home, urging them to leave. They also came on Wednesday. Videos obtained by Haaretz show them grazing sheep on land owned by the family just meters from their homes. According to one family member, one settler told him that he had "already displaced a thousand families – and will also displace him."
The IDF Spokesperson said: "The IDF is unaware of the aforementioned claims and has not been approached about them. Should such claims be received, they will be thoroughly examined. Regarding last Friday's incident, we are aware that IDF forces were called to the Al-Aqaba area following a report that Palestinians had thrown stones at an Israeli civilian who was in an area he was permitted to be in. The forces acted to disperse the friction then detained suspects in the attack against the civilian. During the search, one suspect was found carrying pepper spray."
The IDF Spokesperson further added: "Inquiries to the legal advisor department in the Judea and Samaria Division must be made through the proper channels, and every such inquiry is examined and thoroughly addressed. Inquiries through other channels cannot be grounds for claiming that an issue was brought to the attention of authorized officials. Additionally, approaching the legal advisor department does not replace the duty to file a complaint with the Israel Police and other authorized enforcement agencies."