On Monday, 10 July 2023, the Palestinian Bedouin shepherding community of al-Baq’ah, to the east of Ramallah, was forcibly transferred. In the days leading up to Monday, settlers from an outpost next to al-Baq’ah, one of seven established after the pogrom in Turmusaya on 21 June 2023, attacked the community daily. On Friday, 7 July 2023, a tent home in the community was set on fire while no one was in.
The community of al-Baq’ah was home to 33 people, including 21 minors. The residents, who disassembled their homes and livestock enclosures yesterday, told B’Tselem field researchers that they feared for their lives and there was no one to protect them. Because of this, and having no other choice, they decided to leave the place they called home for decades.
The outpost that settlers established 50 meters away from the community’s homes is a farm with 60 to 70 sheep and two horses. The settlers set up solar panels and connected the outpost to the water infrastructure of the Neve Erez settlement, which was established in 2001, some 100 meters north of al-Baq’ah. They took control of the only road connecting al-Baq’ah to the nearby Alon Route, and have been grazing their sheep in the pasturelands that served the al-Baq’ah community and harassing shepherds from the Mleihat family, who grazed their sheep in the area.
On Friday, 7 July 2023, at around 6:30 A.M., a tent home located 100 meters from the outpost, was set on fire. The family living in the tent had been sleeping in another tent belonging to the extended family out of fear that settlers would harass them at night. The family saw the fire from a distance and called the police, but no officers came.
Israel has created an impossible reality and untenable life for residents, and Israel bears sole responsible for their expulsion.
Muhammad Mleihat explained in a testimony he gave B’Tselem:
I have lived here for 40 years. Nineteen days ago, a new outpost was built right next to the community’s homes, about 50 meters away from the home of one of my sons and about 100 meters away from the home of another one of my sons. Last Thursday, 6 July 2023, we saw unusual movement in the outpost. My son and his family slept over at our home that night out of fear that the settlers would attack them at night. On Friday morning, 7 July 2023, we saw smoke rising from their home. We understood the settlers were sending us a message – that we should leave this place. Since then, they have been constantly harassing us – filming us, blocking our way.
We’ve already asked family members, friends and even suppliers who buy agricultural products from us not to come anymore. We’re trying to avoid clashes, but they left us no choice. We live here with no security and no protection, between settlements and outposts. There is nobody willing to protect us. I have no way to protect my family. Even an ambulance cannot get here now.
Residents of the community of al-Baq'ah, Ramallah District, loading their possessions onto trucks. Photo: Faiz Abu Ramileh, B'Tselem, 10 July 2023
