An outpost and IDF road block Palestinian farmers from their land in the West Bank
Soldiers at a guard post in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, February 2025
Hagar Shezaf reports in Haaretz on 24 February 2025:
In a cornfield in the heart of agricultural land in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley, cows graze where Palestinian farmers recently finished harvesting. Just months ago, the cattle had vast grazing land across the valley, but that changed with the construction of an unauthorized Jewish outpost near the Palestinian village of Bardala, alongside a newly-built military road.
The increased presence of soldiers and settlers that has accompanied the new outpost and road has transformed life for the residents of Bardala, a village nestled in the northernmost stretch of the Jordan Valley. They no longer have access to their grazing lands, and in order to reach it, they have to ask for special favors.
Jamal, a shepherd from Bardala who tends to sheep and cows, now has to ask local farmers for permission to graze his flock on their fields after the corn has been harvested. “Since a settler arrived here, he’s been preventing us from grazing and seeding dozens of dunams,” said Jamal. “Whenever he sees sheep or cattle, he attacks us or calls the Israeli army. He does everything with the army’s protection.”
In response to this article, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, or COGAT, said that the Israeli army has been working to ensure that villagers have safe access to their land. But when Jamal sets out with his flock, he makes sure he is accompanied by another shepherd or a volunteer from abroad, fearing a possible confrontation with settlers.
The lack of access to their land has also driven up the cost of living for the Palestinian villagers. Jamal has felt this impact acutely when purchasing feed for his livestock – his expenses have soared from 20,000 shekels ($5,600) per year to 20,000 shekels per month. “The area is good for agriculture, and that’s what we live off. Up until the past year, we hadn’t had any problems with the settlers,” he said.
According to residents and activists in the area, the villagers’ situation began to deteriorate after the Israel Defense Forces started constructing a road that stretches across the entire West Bank. Starting at the separation wall that divides Israel from the West Bank, the road extends all the way to Route 90, the main highway running along the border between Israel and Jordan.
Residents say work on the road began last September, but that the army only issued an appropriation order for the land in January 2025. Once the road was paved, soldiers began barring Bardala’s residents from accessing their grazing and agricultural lands west of the route. Residents estimate that the construction of the highway has blocked villagers’ access to about 1,500 dunams worth of agricultural land.
An unauthorized Jewish outpost was then built in January. The residents of the outpost, who work as shepherds, barred Palestinian shepherds in the area from grazing livestock there. Bardala’s residents now say that the outpost and the road combined have barred their access to about 20,000 dunams of grazing lands.
Goats in Bardala, February 2025
The situation escalated in early January when settlers entered the heart of the village and, according to villagers, attacked children outside Bardala’s elementary school.
“The outpost is the latest stage in what’s been going on here,” said Ibrahim Sawafta, a member of Bardala’s village council, who says that the road alone has cut off 25 families from their agricultural lands – their primary source of livelihood. “I have 50 dunams, and I’ve tried to go to [my land] three times, including in coordination with COGAT, but each time, they’ve blocked my access.”
When considering the number of Bardala residents who raise corn, beans, or fava beans, it’s clear that many people are affected. “The land there is my only land. [Israel] prevents me from seeding, prevents me from entering to work in Israel, and brings in a settler to live there,” Sawafta said. “Where will these people go? It causes them to resort to extremes,” he said of the villagers.
Since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel and the outbreak of the war, the paving of new roads and creation of dirt trails on Palestinian agricultural land by the IDF and settlers have become increasingly common. The practice significantly limits the freedom of movement for Palestinians, and makes it easier for settlers to establish illegal outposts and travel between them.
According to Peace Now, an Israeli anti-occupation movement, about 114 kilometers (71 miles) of road have been paved in the West Bank since August 2023. Only 35 percent of those roads have been built on state-owned land, Peace Now says, while the rest have been constructed on privately-owned land with unclear ownership status.
Recent months have also brought violent incidents to the areas surrounding Bardala. Members of the extended Jahalin family, who live on the edge of Bardala, have been unable to sleep at night for weeks, opting to stay up to guard the family compound instead. According to 22-year-old Ayat Jahalin, the threats began when settlers attacked her house one night at around 6 P.M.
“Three settlers arrived with clubs and stones,” she said. “They cursed and threw stones at the house.” No one was hurt, she added, and the assailants fled when they saw residents of the village approaching.
“The situation here has changed [since then] from the standpoint of our security. It has put people who have cattle or goats under a lot of pressure because [the outpost] took a lot of the area where we used to graze,” Ayat continued.
The incident in early January in which two settlers attacked an elementary school has also affected Bardala’s residents, particularly the children. The two assailants were named as Eitan Ze’ev, who lives in the Sde Efraim outpost near Ramallah, and Shai Eigner, who works as a land coordinator for the Jordan Valley regional council.
The two were filmed carrying long guns alongside other settlers, as well as members of the Border Police and the army. According to Sawafta, since then, the settlers have not entered Bardala, but they have recently resumed passing through the Palestinian village on their way to the outpost. Other villagers claim that some of the settlers attacked children.
Ze’ev and Eigner refused to say whether they were armed when they entered the village. Ze’ev did, however, admit in a plea agreement for a different crime to shooting and wounding a Palestinian in 2020 near the Palestinian town of Bidyya in the northwest West Bank.
The outpost that was established near Bardala, February 2025
Residents of Bardala say they recently sought assistance from COGAT to remove the agricultural equipment they had left on their land. According to Sawafta, a representative arrived last week to help them retrieve irrigation piping from the area around the outpost, but he too was driven away by a settler.
“People are in despair. They want to abide by the law,” he said. “The area used to be very calm, but it’s not rational for one person to bar the entry of thousands of people. You’re barring access for an entire village because of one settler?”
COGAT said in response to this article that “the outpost is known to officials from the unit and will be dealt with in accordance with their authority and the law in the area, as well as the priorities and directives of the political level. Regarding the claims that Palestinians have been denied access to their land, [we are] aware of incidents of friction in the area, but each time [there has been an incident], IDF forces have arrived and acted to enable safe passage [of the villagers] to their land.”
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement that “there has been no change in the status of the outpost, and the road is not meant for those living there but rather for the security forces. The road was paved per a major general’s order in light of the operational needs, and the security reality in the area, and its route was decided following work at headquarters and consideration of possible alternatives.”
The IDF added, “The order appropriating the land was signed after publication [of notice] and the provision of an opportunity for objections to the decision. Palestinians living at the site were not harmed during the work, and coordination with them has been carried out by COGAT and the IDF, in accordance with the rules.” Regarding allegations that settlers entered Bardala with long guns, the IDF said that “The distribution of means of defense to residents [settlers] is carried out in accordance with army orders, including the order on weaponry in the hands of civilians, and is meant for self-defense.”
Shay Eigner referred Haaretz to the Jordan Valley Regional Council for a response. The council declined to say if Eigner was in Bardala as part of his job, or whether he was issued a weapon for his role.
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