Jordan Valley Brigade commander Col. Gilad Shriki visited five Palestinian communities in the northern Jordan Valley on Sunday, telling residents they should leave the area because a fence will soon be built, making it difficult for them to live there, residents tell The Times of Israel.
The commander visited the communities of Farisiya, Hammamat al Maleh, Ein al-Hilweh, Samra and Makhoul, where several dozen families live in total.
A resident of one of the communities, who has asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, tells The Times of Israel that Shriki arrived with about five soldiers and an Arabic-speaking officer, a Druze man who introduced himself as a member of the Civil Administration. Shriki introduced himself, after which the Arabic-speaking officer said: “It would be better if you went to Tammun and Tubas” — cities in Palestinian Authority-ruled territory in the northern West Bank. “I told him: my identity is here. He told me, ‘Take your ID and go.’ He said: This is Area C, this land belongs to the Jews.”
A second resident, who lives in a different community, tells The Times of Israel that a similar visit took place at his home that same day by the brigade commander accompanied by an Arabic-speaking officer. “He [the Arabic-speaking officer] told me, ‘We will build a fence up there,'” referring to a fence that would separate the communities’ lands from areas under Palestinian Authority control, he says.
“‘You won’t be able to stay here when we build the fence. It’s better that you leave than that we demolish your house,'” he quotes the officer as having said. “He spoke to me alone. My family was afraid to come out [of the house]. This is the first time something like this has happened,” he adds.
A resident of a third community tells The Times of Israel that during the meeting, the brigade commander spoke in Hebrew and the Arabic-speaking officer translated his remarks. “He said, ‘What was before October 7 [2023] is not what will be after October 7. The land is yours, but you don’t have a permit to live here.’ He also said they would build a fence, and whoever is in Tubas will be in Tubas, and whoever is here will remain here.”
An Israeli activist from the group Jordan Valley Activists, who also asks not to be named, tells The Times of Israel that during the visit to the community where he accompanies residents, the brigade commander told him the place was expected to be demolished soon and that the residents had no future there. “He told me, ‘Listen, it’s done for them. I don’t see a future for this place. The Civil Administration will demolish it within the next year. That’s what I told them [the residents] as well.’ He was very polite — he conducted a polite demoralization tour.”
According to Jordan Valley Activists, 22 such communities in the northern Jordan Valley have left their dwellings over the past two years amid settler violence.
The Civil Administration has not responded to a request for comment.
An IDF spokesperson confirms the visit by the officer, saying it was aimed at “providing the communities with a sense of security and emphasizing that the IDF is responsible for the security of all residents in the area.”
The commander “clarified that the IDF is working to eliminate incidents of friction from both sides, and that such incidents will not pass without a response,” the statement says, adding: “It was also clarified that in order to graze sheep and cattle in firing zones, this must be done in coordination with relevant authorities.”
The statement adds that the officer said enforcement measures are being advanced for illegally built structures in the area.