In recent years — and especially since 7 October 2023 — there has been a sharp increase in both the number and severity of settler attacks against Palestinians. The incidents reported on this blog do not reflect all incidents of settler violence in the West Bank, but only those that B’Tselem was able to document and investigate.
Khirbet al-Maleh (Hammamat al-Maleh), northern Jordan Valley: Israel expelled another community through violent attacks, theft and killing of livestock, denial of grazing access, destruction of property and daily harassment
The entrance to Khirbet al-Maleh on the morning of 22 April 2026. Photo courtesy of Jordan Valley Activists
Early Wednesday morning, 22 April 2026, residents traveling on Route 5799, which runs alongside the community of Khirbet al-Maleh, discovered that during the night settlers equipped with a bulldozer had come to the community and demolished the al-Maleh school compound. The school was established in 2020 on land belonging to the Latin Patriarchate for children from Kh. al-Maleh and neighboring communities. The compound included a kindergarten, three classrooms, one for first- and second-grade students and two for third- and fourth-grade students, a kitchen, a utility room housing the school’s electrical and solar energy systems, an outdoor tent, a children’s playground, toilets, drinking fountains, a water cooler, water tanks, a perimeter fence and a paved yard.
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The community of Khirbet (Hamamat) al-Maleh before its expulsion. Photo courtesy of Jordan Valley Activists, 20 Sept. 2024
The settlers also demolished vacated homes belonging to families who had been expelled from their homes in the preceding weeks. They hung Israeli flags on a stone building, originally an Ottoman hotel that had been the home of a family in the community for years, and placed dozens on both sides of the road leading to the site. The following day, settlers, soldiers and representatives of the regional settlement council arrived and welded a massive iron Star of David to the roof of the stone building.When the school was demolished, it no longer had any students, after residents of the Hammamat al-Maleh area were gradually forced out of their homes by settlers who established outposts nearby. The settlers physically assaulted Palestinian residents, harassed them in various ways, including invading homes, bringing cattle herds into the community, damaging property and more. Demolitions by the Civil Administration contributed to the expulsion.
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The ruins of the school. Photo courtesy of Jordan Valley Activists
The community of Um al-Jamal was expelled from its seat back in August 2024, shortly after the Yad Hashomer Farm outpost was established less than one kilometer west of the community’s homes and about two kilometers east of Khirbet al-Maleh. The remaining families began leaving the area after the violent settler attack in July 2025, which included the theft of hundreds of sheep and goats and the killing of about 100 of them. Until then, 14 families, numbering 79 people, including 38 children, lived in Khirbet al-Maleh; 18 families lived in al-Meyteh and 10 families in al-Burj. In the weeks and months after the attack, eight families left Khirbet al-Maleh and eight left al-Meyteh, and many other families removed their flocks from the area, fearing theft.
In late December 2025, following a serious settler attack on Burhan Dagharmeh’s family, who lived in the former Ottoman hotel, during which family members were beaten and his son, Suhaib, was arrested, Burhan, moved his flock away and later his sons as well, for fear they would be harmed or arrested again. Other residents also left Khirbet al-Maleh at this stage, and about 10 residents from five families stayed back to watch over the structures, belongings and school grounds. In February 2026, all the families of 'Ein al-Meyteh and al-Burj were expelled; the few residents who managed to hold on in Khirbet al-Maleh until early April were also forced to leave at that point due to settler violence.
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Settlers, backed by soldiers and a representative of the regional council, weld a Star of David to the roof of the building on 23 April 2026. Photo courtesy of Jordan Valley Activists
In the first three months of 2026, B’Tselem documented at least 12 incidents in which settlers invaded Khirbet al-Maleh and harassed and attacked its residents. These incidents are just some examples of the almost daily attacks and harassment the community endured until its expulsion in early April 2026:
On 17 January 2026, at around 8:00 A.M., settlers brought about 50 cows into fields near the residents’ tents and the school and remained there for about six hours. Their presence terrorized the local residents and deterred them from taking their flocks out to pasture. Afraid to confront the settlers, the Palestinian stood and watched near their homes for hours. They reported that, during the incident, military vehicles passed through the area, but nothing was done to remove the cows.
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Settlers invade the community and roam among the homes. Still from video footage, courtesy of local residents
On 22 January 2026, settlers established a settlement outpost consisting of a cattle pen and a shelter for people about 400 meters northwest of Khirbet al-Maleh, near the place where the families attacked on 17 July 2025 had previously lived. The settlers brought a cattle herd and repeatedly drove their cows into the community, among the residents’ homes, livestock pens and the school.
On 28 January 2026, while the students were at school, settlers who came from the direction of the new outpost drove dozens of cattle among the residents’ tents, right next to the school compound. The settlers rode around on an ATV while the cows walked up to tent entrances. The incident caused panic among the students and their families. It took residents more than two hours to drive the cattle away.
The next day, 29 January 2026, the settlers again brought dozens of cattle into the community and the schoolyard. They wandered among the residents’ homes on foot and on an ATV, filming the structures and the residents. Fearing a confrontation, some families refrained from letting the few sheep and goats still left in the community out of their pen.
On 31 January 2026, a group of settlers invaded the community. They walked among the residents’ tents, broke into homes and tried to open livestock pens. They remained there for hours and at one point again brought cows to graze very close to the tents and the schoolyard. Meanwhile, settlers roamed throughout the community, on the roofs of buildings and near the stone building. The settlers attacked solidarity activists who tried to document the incident, beating one of them, knocking him to the ground and kicking him.
On 1 February 2026, two settlers riding an ATV came to the community and grazed the cows right next to the homes.
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Cows from the outpost grazing in the community. Photo courtesy of local residents
The next day, 2 February 2026, settlers brought the cows into the community as early as 6:00 A.M. According to the driver of the bus that brought students to school, the cows were placed in front of the bus and blocked its way. Later that day, settlers rode an ATV around the schoolyard for several minutes, near the administration office and the staff room, and then left.
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Settlers grazing their cows in the community while the residents’ sheep and goats are confined to their pen. Still from video footage, courtesy of local residents
That night, about 10 soldiers from a nearby military base raided the Daraghmeh family’s home in the old hotel building. The soldiers gathered the family members, all adults, and two international solidarity activists in one room, tied their hands, confiscated phones and ID cards, ransacked the house and damaged property. On their way out of the community, the soldiers broke the door of the school’s administration office on the lower floor of the old hotel building. After they left, one of the family’s daughters felt unwell and was taken by ambulance to a clinic in the town of ‘Ein al-Beida.
On the morning of 7 February 2026, two settlers arrived, including Bentzi Vitkon from the settlement of Maskiyyot, who was armed with an assault rifle, and grazed cows in the community.
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Handcuffed residents and damaged property after a military raid on the community. Photos courtesy of local residents
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Bentzi Vitkon from the settlement of Maskiyyot, armed with an assault rifle, grazing cows in the community. Photo courtesy of local residents
On 19 February 2026, at around 10:30 P.M., about six or seven masked settlers arrived near the school on an ATV and in a car. At least one of them was armed with pepper spray. They began singing, celebrating and playing loud music over speakers. The settlers went behind the old hotel building, where the Daraghmeh family was still living, and where activists and area residents were also spending the night, and attempted to vandalize the water tanks. Two activists, a man and a woman, came out of the building and tried to stop them from emptying the tanks, at which point the settlers lunged at them, kicking and punching, breaking the woman’s glasses and spraying the man with pepper spray. During the incident, the settlers smashed the windows of two vehicles with stones, one belonging to the activists and the other to the al-Maleh council. The head of the council, who was at the scene, experienced chest pain and was taken for medical treatment. Military and police forces arrived only about 20 minutes after the settlers had left and told the residents to file a complaint with the police.
By early March, only a few residents remained in the community, but settler raids continued almost daily.
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Muhammad Sabih at the hospital after the attack. Photo by ‘Aref Daraghmeh, B’Tselem
On 1 March 2026, at around 4:00 A.M., settlers raided the community, threw stones at the stone building, attacked residents who tried to drive them back with stones and stole a donkey.
On the night of 8 March 2026, settlers attacked the home of Muhammad Sabih, 74, with stones while he and his wife were inside, damaged property and smashed the windows of a solidarity activist’s vehicle parked there.
Two days later, on 10 March 2026, at around 8:00 P.M., settlers entered Sabih’s home. He was the only resident at the community at the time. The settlers kicked him, beat him, and tried to choke him with his keffiyeh. After the settlers let go, Sabih went to the stone building, about 100 meters from his home, and discovered that the solidarity activists staying there had also been attacked, one of them had been injured, and their vehicle had been damaged. Sabih was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Tubas, where he was treated for a deep cut on his right hand that required four stitches, superficial wounds and bruising on his right arm, and a wound in his ear. Sabih did not return to his home in Kh. al-Maleh after being discharged from the hospital. He moved to the community with his wife after their expulsion from the community of al-Farisiyah Khallet Khader, where they had lived for many years.
Following the last three attacks, remaining in the community, particularly at night, became too dangerous, and the residents could no longer live there. They did return for a few hours every day to try to repair the damage caused by settlers.
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74-year-old Muhammad Sabih’s hands after he was attacked by settlers in his home. Photo courtesy of Jordan Valley Activists
On 6 April 2026, dozens of settlers came to Khirbet al-Maleh and held a mass event there that included prayers, singing and a gathering near the stone building at the center of the community. A video they posted of the event bore the caption: “After years in Ishmaelite hands, we conquered Hamam al-Malih!”
On 13 April 2026, while residents and workers were carrying out repairs and renovations at the school and other structures damaged in previous settler attacks, an armed male settler carrying a rifle and a female settler arrived, threatened those present and claimed they were not allowed to be there and that the area belonged to the settlers. A short time later, soldiers arrived, checked the IDs of those present and left.
Nine days later, on 22 April 2026, the settlers demolished the school, put up flags and installed a Star of David on the stone building, in a bid to put facts on the ground, prevent the residents’ return and deny them the possibility of rebuilding the school and restoring life in the communities where they had lived for decades.
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Stones settlers threw into the home of Muhammad Sabih, 74, and his wife. Still from video footage by Jordan Valley Activists
On Saturday, 25 April 2026, representatives of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which owns the land in the Hammamat al-Maleh area, toured the community. After the visit, the Patriarchate issued a statement demanding action be taken against those responsible for the school’s destruction, and stating it would pursue legal action, in part over the installation of an Israeli flag on church property, namely the Ottoman-era hotel building.
The Hammamat al-Maleh area, once home to dozens of families, is now empty of Palestinians. The area is located about 10 kilometers east of Tubas, in the northern Jordan Valley. In the past, it included an Ottoman-era inn, a flour mill, and hot springs where thousands of Palestinians and travelers would come to bathe, giving the place its name. After Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, the military established training camps in the area, one of them just one kilometer away from Hamamat al-Malih, and closed off extensive areas to local residents. Over 90% of the land in the area belongs to the Latin Patriarchate. Local residents and solidarity activists documented at least two mass settler attacks in the area of Khirbet al-Maleh after the Patriarchate’s visit.
Maryam Khalil, 64, a mother of nine, told B’Tselem field researcher ‘Aref Daraghmeh on 21 April 2026 about life in Hammamat, suffering under the occupation and the expulsion from her home
I have lived in the Hamamat al-Maleh area for more than 50 years. I spent most of my life there. My family and I lived there all these years; we raised cattle and sheep, and we had relatively good lives. We had water, open grazing areas and access to everything. More than ten families lived in Hamamat al-Maleh. We had a school, there were old buildings, like the hotel and the mill, and we all lived together as neighbors safely and calmly. I gave birth to all my children there and married off some of them.
But in the last three years, the occupation forces and the settlers have been putting more and more pressure on us. They brought cattle and sheep, set up outposts near us and started hounding us in every aspect of life. Gradually, we couldn’t go out to graze anymore, plow land or even go a few meters away from our tents. The settlers wandered among the tents every day, sometimes with their cattle and sometimes on ATVs, armed and attacking anyone who came near the hills that provided our living for decades.
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The stone building, the old Ottoman hotel, on the morning of 22 April 2026. Photo courtesy of Jordan Valley Activists
They constantly threatened us and demanded that we leave the area. They emptied water tanks, broke solar panels, stole sheep, assaulted residents and sometimes brought the army to arrest us and our children. Once, they passed by me while I was baking, when the dough was on the fire, and poured it on the ground right in front of me. It was daily humiliation meant to drive us out.
Over the past year, especially in recent months, the attacks really intensified, until all the families realized that we couldn’t stay anymore. I cried almost every day at the thought of having to leave the place I spent my entire life in. My children saw me crying. But in the end, we felt we had no choice. We had to save our families and what was left of our source of livelihood.
In the past month, we started taking down the tents, the pens and everything we built over the years. Dozens of vehicles moved our belongings, first to the Tubas area, costing us thousands of shekels (1 ILS ~ 0.33 USD). We moved to Tayasir for one day, but in the end, we moved to an area north of the village of Sir in Jenin District, in Area A, about 15 kilometers northwest of Hamamat, where we set up new tents and new pens.
The move destroyed our livelihood too. We had more than 250 sheep, and now we have only about 100 left. We had more than 60 head of cattle, and we were forced to sell all of them so we could continue to make a living from the sheep we had left. In the past, the animals grazed in the nearby hills, which saved us on feed costs. Every year, we sold milk and cheese and more than 35 calves, and after expenses, we had enough money to make a living. But once the grazing was closed off to us, we couldn’t afford feed, water and medicine for the sheep and cattle. We were forced to sell almost everything at very low prices, sometimes on credit. The traders started avoiding us and refusing to pay, and the checks they gave us bounced. But we had no choice but to keep selling like that. We had nowhere left to live or to graze.
Life is very hard in the new area too. This is private farmland, and the landowners here obviously aren’t willing to have the sheep come near their fields. We’re careful, but every day we hear complaints that the sheep are eating the crops. In addition, out here, we have huge expenses for feed, water and other necessities, and life is unbearably hard.
Uprooting from Hamamat al-Maleh was like a Nakba for us. We are living a new Nakba every day. The families in the community have scattered; each has moved to a different area or district. Once we lived together as neighbors and relatives. Today everyone is fighting on their own somewhere else. All my daughters lived near me, and today they are far away, and I hardly hear them say “hello” on the phone. People are exhausted, broken, asking themselves what the future holds for them.
The settlers kept chasing us even after we left. They came to the new area we moved to. We don’t know how they got here too, but it’s clear to us that they are trying to cut us off from our source of livelihood, force the livestock growers to sell their animals and leave us with nothing. Now, it’s also clear to us that it’s not just individual settlers. They are supported by the occupation government, the military and the police. The settlers are armed and act with full backing from the occupation authorities. They were given cattle, sheep, feed and everything they needed to take over the area and drive us out of it.
Today, the settlers are taking over the area of Hamamat al-Maleh, setting up outposts and driving out every Palestinian who comes there. Even the school established in the area about four or five years ago was destroyed after the families and students were expelled. They want to erase everything that could encourage us to go back or even to think about going back. In the past, we flourished there. There was water, open grazing, and safety. Now I feel that we are living in darkness, and we do live in real fear, not just for our flock but also for our children, for our livelihood and for our future.
No one really stands by our side. People come, officials, foreigners and international organizations, but in practice, nothing changes. The settlers keep attacking us as the world watches, and the world does nothing.
What happened to us is a crime. Once we were united and lived together, and today, everyone is scattered and uprooted from their land. There is not even a sliver of hope that we can return to our place and live again in al-Maleh. The settlers are there all the time, and anyone who comes near the area is in danger.
And still, we hold out hope. With God’s help, life will smile on us again, and all this darkness will disappear.
