Israel’s High Court temporarily forbids confiscation of Palestinians’ herds in West Bank

Palestinian shepherd near the settlement of Masua in the West Bank

Bar Peleg reports in Haaretz on 29 June 2024:

Israel’s High Court of Justice ordered on Friday the Jordan Valley Regional Council in the West Bank to stop confiscating sheep and cattle herds belonging to Palestinians, until it reaches a decision in the petition filed on the matter.

Justices Ruth Ronen, Yechiel Kasher, and Dafna Barak Erez issued an interim order following a petition filed by four Palestinians and the Yesh Din non-governmental organization against the regional council, saying that the council could not confiscate herds where there is a “reasonable possibility” that they belong to residents of the area.

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In recent months, the Jordan Valley Regional Council has been seizing Palestinians’ herds of cattle or sheep on the grounds that they are wandering or obstructing traffic, based on by-laws for capturing stray animals, and another by-law for regulating grazing. The owners of the herds were required to pay tens of thousands of shekels to get their cattle or sheep back from the council.

The petition focuses on three cases of herd confiscation by the council. The attorneys of the four Palestinian herd owners demand that Israel return the cattle and sheep, as well as the money collected from the owners, stating that these are Palestinians who have used the area for grazing for decades and rely on it for their livelihood.

In March, the legal adviser for Judea and Samaria in the Military Advocate General’s Office wrote to the lawyers representing the petitioners that the Jordan Valley Regional Council acted against the law when it confiscated the herds. According to the adviser, Col. Eli Levertov, the by-laws in the West Bank regional councils apply only to Israelis, and attempts to expand them so that they also apply to Palestinians are against the law.

The Jordan Valley Regional Council said in response that it “cares about the peace and security of its residents and, among other things, works to eradicate the phenomenon of animal wandering, a phenomenon that endangers residents in the area of the council and causes serious safety hazards, including road accidents with many casualties. This is a pointless petition, and the council is certain that the Supreme Court will not allow the residents of the Jordan Valley to be put at risk due to illegal grazing and roaming animals.”

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