Jordan Valley / PNN /

On Friday, March 13, at 1:20am, around 30 masked Israeli settlers invaded a Palestinian property in Humsa, northern Jordan Valley, where a family of 12 people live.

The settlers first stormed a tent where one of the Palestinian men was asleep and a US and Portuguese international activists were staying. The settlers beat the man and activists, and when asked by one of the activists what they wanted, they responded, “We want to kill you.” The settlers then tied the Palestinian and activists’ hands and ankles, and took the activists’ phones and one of their bags.

They dragged out the man and activists by their hair and ankles to another tent, while hitting them and asking them questions and saying, “We are Jewish, this is our land.” Outside the tent, they blindfolded one of the activists and covered the other activist’s face with a blanket, shoved them on the ground, and kicked them every time they walked past. The settlers brought three other men and the children from the family inside the tent.

The settlers exerted extreme violence toward the Palestinian men. They beat up the eldest man with rocks. They also committed two sexual assaults.
The settlers also took rings from the activists, asking them if they wanted their fingers cut off.

As the family’s children were crying while forced to witness the violence, the settlers told them to shut up.
The settlers opened the family’s sheep pen and let loose around 350 sheep. They also stole the activists’ passports, phones, and money, and cut one of their jackets. They then cut the men and activists’ ties, rolled one of the activists on top of a Palestinian man, and left.

The Palestinian men and the activists were taken in ambulances to receive medical treatment. It took 3 hours for the first ambulance to arrive because the military blocked it from reaching the property.

Israeli settler attacks in the north Jordan Valley have increased sharply in the past few weeks as the Israeli government begins building a 500km apartheid wall and military road in the region. At the end of February, Israeli forces have also issued demolition orders for 10 farms and a vegetable store in the area.

These coordinated efforts are accelerating the ethnic cleansing of communities in the Jordan Valley at alarming rates. Families have left the villages of Hammamat Al Maleh, Al Miteh and Al Burj, Khirbet Yarza, and Humsa during the last month alone. Hammamat Al Burj is now completely empty, while the two remaining families in Hammamat al Maleh were badly attacked yesterday.

Since the Israel-US attack on Iran, settlers have also killed six Palestinians in the West Bank.