IDF says displacement of Bedouin residents near West Bank outpost was due to ‘misunderstanding’

The IDF ordered Bedouin residents in the Ramallah area in the West Bank to leave their homes overnight in what it later said was an error that has been rectified.

Footage published overnight shows IDF soldiers instructing a Bedouin community near the village of Deir Ammar to leave their homes. In recent days, an illegal outpost was set up by extremist settlers close to the Bedouin homes, and residents have reported being attacked by settlers from the outpost.

Two days ago, one of the community’s structures was set on fire; no casualties were reported.

In response to a query from The Times of Israel, the IDF says that the incident seen in the video “will be investigated” and that the order to displace the Bedouin residents was made due to a “misunderstanding.”

The IDF says the area was “declared a closed military zone” after repeated clashes between Israelis and Palestinians, but that “Bedouin residents of the area were allowed to remain.”

“In the incident in question, an IDF force was dispatched following a report of an attack on Israeli civilians and friction in the area,” the military adds. Troops were instructed to remove “anyone who is not a resident. Following a misunderstanding in which the force identified the Bedouin residents as people who do not belong in the area, the Bedouin residents returned to their homes and procedures were clarified on site.”

צה"ל הורה הלילה לבדואים מקהילה באזור רמאללה להתפנות מבתיהם, ימים אחרי הקמת מאחז סמוך ותקיפות נגדם, כולל מבנה שהוצת (לא היו נפגעים). צה"ל הבוקר: "לאחר אי הבנה בה הכוח זיהה את הבדואים תושבי המקום כמי שלא שייכים לאזור, חזרו התושבים הבדואים למגוריהם וחודדו הנהלים במקום" –> pic.twitter.com/cQ2oQ5MKBR

— Nurit Yohanan (@nurityohanan) August 11, 2025