'Lawless land': Israeli settlers drive Bedouins from West Bank village

Ahmed Kaabneh tried to remain on his familys land in the central West Bank, despite persistent pressure from Israeli settlers that had already forced his brothers to leave. But when a group of young settlers erected a small shack on a hill roughly 100 meters above his home and began threatening his children, the 45-year-old felt compelled to abandon the area.

The small Bedouin settlement, where Kaabnehs father and grandfather had lived for generations, is now deserted, a fate shared by numerous Bedouin communities across the West Bank.

"Leaving a place where youve lived for 45 years is incredibly hard," Kaabneh said from the familys temporary shelter in the rocky hills northeast of Jericho. "But what choice do we have? They are the powerful ones, and we are vulnerable."

Since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, tensions have intensified, especially after the outbreak of war in Gaza in October 2023 following a Hamas attack on Israel. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), around 3,200 Palestinians from Bedouin and herding communities have been displaced due to settler violence and movement restrictions since that time. The UN reported October 2023 as the most violent month for settler attacks since records began in 2006, with few perpetrators facing accountability.

Kaabneh now lives with four of his brothers and their families about 13 kilometers northeast of their original homes in al-Hathrura. Though the children play football and laundry hangs outside their new metal shelters, Kaabneh says life there is difficult and unfamiliar.

The surge in violence has coincided with a rapid increase in settler outposts across the West Bank. While international law deems all Israeli settlements illegal, and Israeli law prohibits outposts, many are later legalized. Weeks before Kaabneh fled, AFP observed caravans and an Israeli flag marking a new outpost near his familys former compound, alongside the remains of a previously abandoned Bedouin home.

Kaabneh described settlers constantly monitoring their homes, shouting through the night, throwing stones, and obstructing movement during the day. Within three weeks, the Bedouin houses were empty. Only a few activists and the occasional stray animal now visit the abandoned area, where overturned bicycles and scattered shoes reveal the hurried departure.

Israeli activist Sahar Kan-Tor, part of the grassroots group Standing Together, explained that settlers thrive on chaos and operate in a zone with almost no enforcement of law. Last December, Israeli settlement monitors reported that settlers have claimed 14% of the West Bank using shepherding outposts. NGOs Peace Now and Kerem Navot noted that these actions often occur with support from the Israeli government and military, and some right-wing officials advocate for annexing parts of the West Bank.

Even in their new location in the eastern West Bank, Kaabneh says the family remains under threat, as settlers have continued to watch and pursue them. "There is no truly safe place for us," he said. "They follow us everywhere."

Author: Ava Mitchell