On November 18th, at around 12pm four cars belonging to the Israeli occupation police and to the Settlements Council stormed Khirbet Hammamat al-Maleh, raiding residents’ homes and the Al-Tahadi School.

One of the school’s employees, Ammar Faqha, was assaulted and beaten by the police, who later tried to prevent activists in taking him to Ain al-Bayda clinic. Faqha was eventually transferred by an ambulance to the Turkish Tubas Hospital, where he is currently receiving treatment for internal bleeding, a fracture in his hand and bruises on his neck.

Three Hammamat al-Maleh’s residents were arrested, namely Ibrahim Najadeh, Ahmed Rashid, and Burhan Daragmeh. They were released after three hours and were asked to return to the occupation police station one week after for further investigation into an incident occurred over a month ago, when they tried to prevent settlers from stealing some of their private property.

What happened on Tuesday in Khirbet Hammamat al-Maleh is part of the broader Israeli strategy of ethnic cleansing of Palestinian families living in the area. On the same day, Israeli police also raided Palestinian homes in Ras al-A’uja, southern Jordan Valley, and carried on house demolitions in Umm al-Jamal, northern Jordan Valley.