Halq a-Rummanah (‘Ein a-Duyuk al-Foqa), Jordan Valley: Settlers and soldiers confined residents to their homes in Area A, assaulted two of them, vandalized property and stole dozens of sheep and goats

On Wednesday, 29 October 2025, at around 1:00 A.M., dozens of settlers and soldiers raided the community of Halq a-Rummanah, a cluster of about 25 families who live in concrete houses scattered over a large area designated in the Oslo Accords as Area A. The community is located about five kilometers northwest of Jericho and about 800 meters northwest of the village of ‘Ein a-Duyuk al-Foqa, where its children attend school. Members of the community make their living primarily from raising sheep and goats.

The settlers and soldiers kept residents confined to their homes using force and threatening them at gunpoint. They took residents’ phones and ID cards and conducted searches of the homes, during which they beat at least two residents with their firearms and vandalized property. After the settlers and soldiers left, the residents came out of their homes and discovered that dozens of sheep and goats had been stolen.

Image

The access road to Halq a-Rummanah is rocky, uneven and dangerous to drive on. It runs along a cliff in Area C, where the military sometimes sets up flying checkpoints. In October 2025, settlers put up a gate at the entrance to the community from the direction of the village of ‘Ein a-Duyuk al-Foqa, which they sometimes close to disrupt the movement of residents and students to and from the community.

On 5 November 2025, B’Tselem field researcher ‘Aref Daraghmeh collected testimonies from two of the residents:

Salim Mleihat, 34, a married father of four, related in his testimony:

Image

My family is originally from the Hizma area, where we raised sheep and goats. But the occupation forces forced us out of different areas again and again until we arrived, years ago, in Halq a-Rummanah. We built a concrete house and livestock enclosures here and raised sheep. I live here with my family of six and my father’s family of four.

In recent years, settler attacks on our community have greatly increased, and the army also comes, raids homes and brings destruction and harassment. Settlers who set up outposts in the area harass us, especially the security guard of a nearby settlement.

On Wednesday night, 29 October 2025, at around 1:00 A.M., soldiers and settlers broke into our home while we were asleep. They forbade us from going outside, took our phones and ID cards and held us for a long time. They beat my father and other residents and prevented us from looking to see what was happening outside the houses. After about two hours, the soldiers and settlers left.

After we made sure everyone left, we went out to check our livestock enclosures, which are about 50 meters away from the residential area, and discovered that, while the army was keeping us locked inside, the settlers stole dozens of sheep and goats belonging to me, my brother and my father. We don’t know where they took the animals. The livestock is our only source of income. We contacted many parties, including the Palestinian and Israeli DCOs, but got no answers. The day after the raid, soldiers and trackers came and claimed that four people stole the animals and took them northwest, but we still don’t know what became of them.

We face raids by the army and settlers, sometimes separately and sometimes together, daily. The settlers blocked the road leading to the community and to our homes with a gate, to prevent us from going in and out. It’s an uneven and dangerous road that the army won’t let us repair. The army and the settlers are trying to drive us out of here, and we are in immediate danger of expulsion.

‘Abd a-Nassr Hilis, 49, related in his testimony:

We’ve lived here for almost 20 years. There are wells in this area, and it has been settled since the Ottoman Empire era. When we first came here, it was quiet. But lately, since the war in Gaza, the situation has been deteriorating. About a year or 10 months ago, a gate was installed on our road here. That made our lives harder. We contacted human rights organizations, and in the end, an agreement was reached that the gate would be closed in the evening and opened in the morning. We have about 25 families here and about 25 to 27 students, from kindergarten age to university.

But over the last five months, the army and settlers have been harassing us in other ways. Four or five days ago, settlers arrived together with a full army battalion and searched all the homes. About 15 soldiers came into my house and interrogated me, claiming I had a firearm. I said, search, where are you going to find a firearm? If you find one, shoot. They turned the house upside down, but they were looking for money and gold, not firearms. I saw them open my little girl’s wallet, which had 20 ILS (~ 6.65 USD) in it, and a female soldier took the money and put it in her pocket. They pointed their guns at me, and I couldn’t do anything. After they found nothing in the house, three masked settlers also came in. One of them said to me, “You have to leave. You’re not allowed to stay here.” Then three soldiers beat me, and then the settlers also assaulted me. They broke everything here in this room.

One of the settlers hit me with a fire extinguisher, one with a stick and one with a clothes hanger. Three of them kept hitting the left side of my body. They broke my jaw. After they beat me, they left. They tried to steal our jeep and a neighbor’s Mitsubishi pickup truck, but didn’t manage to, so they made do with stealing the livestock and the money they collected from here and there and left.

An ambulance that arrived here took me to the hospital in Jericho, where I was kept overnight.