This article was first published by the International Solidarity Movement at palsolidarity.org

March 16, 2026, Fasiyil al Wusta, Jordan Valley — After months of escalated harassment, the Israeli army, settler security, police, border police and masked men with yellow jackets demolished a shepherding family’s home in Fasayil, a village near to Arīḥā (Jericho).

The family have lived here for 20 years. This house is where they raised their children and kept their goats, sheep, chickens and numerous other animals.

When they received the first demolition order at the end of February, they consulted their lawyer to try to appeal it. However, their lawyer told them that there was nothing they could do and that they only had 7 days to act.

They were also told that they either had to pay for the demolition themselves or the Israeli army would do it and charge them 100,000 shekels.

In the morning the family announced that two bulldozers had appeared in the village and the Israeli army was gathering. The family, neighbours and solidarity activists scrambled to pack all their belongings before bulldozers destroyed their house.

Suddenly, the Palestinians and international activists were surrounded by Israeli soldiers armed with assault rifles.The family members screamed and cried out in fear and desperation, then the bulldozers surrounded their home.

The soldiers interrogated the internationals, asking them why they were there. They ordered them away from the family and the demolition, using the excuse that it was a military zone. The police then threatened them with deportation if they did not leave the area.

After months of escalated harassment and violence, the Israeli army, settler security, police and border police reduced the family’s house of 20 years to rubble, leaving them homeless.

Since October last year, harassment towards the family by Israeli settlers has escalated significantly, backed by both the Israeli army and the police.

They were one of the last families remaining steadfast on the land in Fasayil al Wusta, just outside the main village. As a result, they had been experiencing relentless visits from settlers, including sanctioned settler Eliav Libi, who menacingly trespassed on their land with their sheep and cows, filmed them, threatened to steal their sheep, dumped huge amounts of rotting dates next to their home and cut their water pipes. The settlers also flew drones over their home multiple times a day.

The Israeli army and police showed up regularly, threatening the family and the international activists who were staying with them in solidarity.

Now they have been displaced, Eliav Libi could move or extend his pastoral outpost onto their land, which he will inevitably use as a base to terrorise the other farming family’s who are based in Fasayil al Fouqa and Fasayil A-Tahta.

As well as displacing and persecuting this family and their neighbours, the Israeli Occupation is cracking down on solidarity activism in the area.

On November 17, Israel arrested Palestinian human rights activist Ayman Ghrayeb during a solidarity visit in Fasiyal. They disappeared him, denied him contact with his lawyer and beat him so severely that he was hospitalised. After a month in custody, he was sentenced to 6 months in administrative detention.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Occupation continues to escalate coordinated efforts to ethnically cleanse Palestinians across the Jordan Valley with complete impunity.

As a result of the violence in recent months, we have seen Israel push out whole communities, like the 150 families displaced from nearby Ras Ein Al Auja, and multiple households from communities across the region, which leaves those remaining more isolated and vulnerable to attacks.