On Monday and Tuesday April 29 and 30, the Israeli army yet again harassed Palestinian villagers living in the northern Jordan Valley. As previously reported, last week the army issued mandatory evacuation orders to three communities (Khirbeit Samra, Ein Al Helweh, and Al-Maleh) located along Allon Road. The army ordered these families to leave their homes so military training exercises could be conducted in the area, including the use of live ammunition. On Monday a group of soldiers came to Ein Al Helweh around 7 PM. The soldiers shouted at the four families living there to leave. Forty people, including thirty children, had to leave their tents and walk about two kilometers to another community. The entire family slept outside, except for two young boys who had to stay alone in the tents to tend to the newborn sheep which could not be transported. Overnight Mohammad Zarriyyah from Ein Al Helweh reported seeing helicopters fire rockets twice at the hills behind his homes. He reported hearing two large explosions and seeing the hills on fire after. Today, the children were not allowed to go to school or leave the area. The families have been ordered to stay away from their homes until 7 PM this evening. However, as army presence has cleared out of the immediate area, they have slowly been returning to their homes as they have to care for their animals and need their belongings.

A group of international volunteers, including some with EAPPI that traveled from Yanoun, attempted to visit Ein El Helweh around 6 PM Monday evening. The internationals wanted to provide an presence in case of rights abuses committed by the army. However, the army set up a flying checkpoint at Allon Road next to Hamra checkpoint, and denied entry to the group.

The community of Khirbeit Samra was also forced out of their homes early this morning. Two jeeps, one from the Israel army and one from the Israeli civil administration, arrived at 6 AM. The army ordered the families living there to leave, then a few soldiers left. When the army returned back a few minutes later they told the families they had 5 minutes to evacuate. Mayoob, who lives in Khirbeit Samra with his mother, wife, and children, asked if he could call a neighbor to bring a car to bring his children to school. The soldiers denied this request. At 6:10 AM the men and older children walked with their herds of sheep about 3 km away to Machool while the children rode in the back of tractors. They crowded all day in the tractors, the only shade available in a wide open field, where temperatures reached 35 degrees.

This is part of a pattern of army harassment and attempted displacement in the northern Jordan Valley. These communities live in a “closed military zone,” making their entire existence “illegal” even though many families have papers from the Jordanians before 1967 proving they own the land.