Ethnic cleansing of Ras al Ein Al Auja including Shallal al-Auja

This event is gathering the harassement and terror incidents by Israeli settlers and soldiers targeting the Ras al Ain Ras Al Auja Bedouin community, including Shallal al Auja area, in the Jordan Valley leading to their forced displacement or ethnic cleansing. These events are part of a broader pattern of escalating settler violence targeting Ras al-Ein, the largest remaining Bedouin village in the southern Jordan Valley, following the ethnic cleansing of nearby Muarrajat

Shallal al‑Auja (sometimes written as Shallal al‑Awja) is a small Bedouin community located north of Jericho within the broader area of Al‑‘Auja, in the eastern Jordan Valley. It's in the Al‑‘Auja area, and falls under Area C—meaning it remains under full Israeli military and administrative control. The community is part of a network of small villages and Bedouin encampments along Wadi al‑Auja and near the Al‑‘Auja spring, approximately 10–11 km northeast of Jericho. In essence, Shalla al‑Auja is one of several vulnerable Bedouin communities situated near Al‑‘Auja in the northern Jordan Valley, facing pressures on land, water, and security.

Context:

Ras ‘Ein al ‘Auja, home to about 135 families and the last remaining Bedouin community in this part of the valley, was emptied after years of harassment that intensified sharply after October 2023. Settlers carried out arson, livestock theft, beatings, intimidation, home invasions, destruction of roads, electricity cuts, and water sabotage, making daily life unbearable. By early 2026, families began dismantling their homes and fleeing, many in tears, after decades on the land.

The violence is described as systematic and strategic, led largely by young settler shepherds, including minors known as the “Hilltop Youth,” operating from herding outposts. These outposts allow settlers to rapidly seize large areas of land by grazing animals, isolating Palestinian communities, and blocking access. According to rights groups, this method is faster and more effective than building permanent settlements.

Israeli security forces are portrayed as failing to protect Palestinians, often ignoring or indirectly supporting settler violence while arresting Palestinians and Israeli peace activists instead. Despite a sharp rise in settler attacks and more than 1,000 Palestinian deaths in the West Bank since October 2023, there has been virtually no accountability.

Human rights groups argue the campaign has full backing from the Israeli government, including far-right ministers who fund and arm settlers. The goal, they say, is to remove Palestinians from open land in Area C and consolidate Israeli control, particularly along the Jordan Valley — a long-standing objective dating back to the Allon Plan after 1967.

As families leave, those remaining become even more vulnerable, trapped by poverty and lack of alternatives. International sanctions and diplomatic recognition of a Palestinian state have so far failed to halt the destruction of communities on the ground. The article concludes that while responsibility is clear, international accountability is more distant than ever, and the displacement of Palestinian communities is accelerating.

Notable incidents:

Note: for the period between 2023 and July 2025, see the event Ras Al-Ein Al-Auja under settlers terror

On July 15, 2025, Israeli settlers and forces attacked the residents of Shalla al‑Auja. The community was assaulted and threatened in a coordinated effort to displace Bedouin families from their land.

On Augustus 10, 2025

"Over the past 24 hours, settlers began establishing a new outpost near the village of Ras Ein al-Auja in the southern Jordan Valley, an act that will require incursions by settlers into the village’s lands and will inevitably expose residents to violence, looting, and destruction. In recent months, settlers set up a water point above the Palestinian community of Ras Ein al Auja, recently, the tank was connected to a pipeline from illegal outposts east of “Kohav HaShahar”. Today, settlers arrived with overnight gear, mattresses and a shade tarp, and unloaded it in the “Burned Houses” area, a compound abandoned in April 2024 and later torched by settlers. These actions constitute a severe violation of Palestinians’ property rights, livelihoods, and safety. We demand that the state act immediately to stop them. The international community must intervene in the West Bank and press Israel to halt the “wild west” policy now prevailing under Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich’s government". (Mistaclim report)

On Augustus 15, 2025

Gabriel, an Israeli "security officer" with no legal power in al-Auja, is filmed while he's terrorizing the area with a sadistic smile. He led the ethnic cleansing of al-Muarrajat—courts say he was never there. This is settler colonialism, protected by the system.

On Augustus 16, 2025, Israeli settlers forcibly displaced two Palestinian Bedouin families from the Shallal al-Auja area north of Jericho after violent assaults and death threats. According to Hassan Mleihat of the Al-Baydar Organization, armed settlers surrounded the families’ homes, severely beat them, and threatened to kill them if they stayed. Rights groups report that new colonial outposts established nearby have intensified a campaign of intimidation aimed at forcing residents off their land.

On October 8, 2025, Israeli settlers—including minors—attacked Palestinian infrastructure, trespassed on properties, and assaulted activists, bringing even toddlers to witness the violence. Israeli security forces, police, and military arrived shortly after but detained activists for nearly three hours, accusing them of illegal activity. During this time, local Palestinian Ahmed Jahaleen was briefly kidnapped and later released. Activist Dean Talkoff, a dual Israeli-American citizen, was brutally assaulted by police officer Offir Aharonovitch—punched, choked, and slammed into rocks—before being taken to jail, where he remains. Settler outposts and supportive local security forces have carried out an ongoing campaign of terror aimed at expelling the community. Dean Talkoff is the fourth activist injured in the past month during such attacks.

On December 31, 2025, Israeli settlers plowed Palestinian-owned land, in what rights groups describe as a coordinated attempt to seize land and expand a newly established colonial outpost. The operation began at dawn, with tractors used to cultivate large areas belonging to local families. According to Hassan Mleihat of the Al-Baidar Organization, the plowing is part of a systematic strategy to impose new facts on the ground by linking seized plots to the expanding outpost. The area has already been heavily affected by land loss due to the separation wall and earlier outposts, many later legalized by Israel. Residents warn that the latest actions signal an accelerating wave of land grabs aimed at emptying the region of its Palestinian population and consolidating control over vital agricultural and grazing lands. Community leaders are calling for urgent intervention to stop further takeover.

2026: massive displacement under terror

After New Year, settler attacks intensified to a level that many families felt was immediately life-threatening, not just oppressive. Settlers ploughed up dirt access roads, cutting several houses off from the rest of the village and emergency access. A makeshift settler outpost was established within Ras ‘Ein al ‘Auja itself, rather than on surrounding hills, marking a major escalation.Settlers began roaming between houses at night, entering homes where women and children were sleeping. Electricity cables were cut, and water tanks emptied, directly targeting survival needs.

26 families (over 120 people) decided to leave within days after New Year. Their departure triggered a domino effect, leaving remaining families exposed and accelerating further flight. Psychological impact of the terror on children who, traumatized by night invasions and constant fear, were among the strongest voices urging families to leave immediately. What had previously been long-term harassment and intimidation shifted into direct, immediate coercion, forcing families to choose between fleeing or risking serious harm.

On January 8, 2026, A Palestinian rights group, Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights, said that ongoing Israeli settler attacks have forced about 20 Palestinian families to leave the northern area of the Shalal al-Ouja Bedouin community, north of Jericho in the West Bank, amid repeated assaults and a lack of protection.