Palestinian households in the village of Fasayil al Wusta, located in the Jordan Valley north of Jericho, have been facing increasing harassment and attacks over the past month. As a result, five families decided to leave the area on Thursday, November 6. Only one family remains, still resisting despite displacement efforts.
Fasayil al Wusta lies between two settlements, Tomer to the south and Petza’el to the north. Palestinians believe that the plan of the occupation forces is to link the two settlements, which is why Fasayil al Wusta has been so heavily targeted. In 2023, two outposts were also established to the west of the village.
The family has reported different incidents over the past month, including beatings of family members and neighbours by the settlers and settler security, along with intimidation intended to force them to leave the area. One of the daughters was detained at a military base for seven hours, where she was not allowed to speak, eat or drink anything, and was threatened of assault. Two years ago, the family’s mother was also arrested and beaten in front of the community.
On Thursday, settlers erected a fence around the family’s house, isolating it from the neighbouring villages of Fasayil and Fasayil al Fauqa. This further action paired by daily incursions by settlers entering the property and scaring the family has raised fears of imminent displacement among the local community.
International witnesses have reported sustained activity around the house, including the presence of drones hovering overhead at all hours of the day and night, and settlers using ATVs to patrol the perimeter fence around the family’s land. On Sunday morning, soldiers arrived and demanded the owner’s ID, and later, members of Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority authority were seen shooting and killing dogs belonging to neighbouring families. In addition, the water pipeline supplying the household was found to have been cut. Water is delivered to the household only every four days for 12 hours, due to Israel’s full control on water resources in the Jordan Valley. The families in fact believes the pipeline was cut on Thursday, when the fence was erected.
The family’s ongoing exposure to continuous distress caused by the fear of attacks is compounded by additional hardships. Children are scared to walk to school, which is a few hundreds meter away, and family members are generally afraid to leave the house unattended, which poses additional problems when medical visits and other daily tasks require leaving the home.
