RAMALLAH, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 20 Palestinian families fled their homes in a Bedouin community north of Jericho, West Bank, on Thursday, driven out by a wave of intimidation and violence by Israeli settlers, according to a local human rights group.
The families abandoned the northern edge of the al-Auja community, leaving behind their homes and livelihoods out of fear for their lives, said Hassan Mleihat, the leader of Al-Baydar Center for the Defense of Bedouin Rights.
The displacement followed an incursion earlier in the day by settlers on horseback who stormed the area and chased residents. One Palestinian woman was injured after being kicked by a horse; she was treated by ambulance crews and later transferred to a hospital in Jericho.
Mleihat described the incident not as an isolated clash, but as part of a "systematic policy of forced displacement" aimed at clearing Bedouin communities from the strategic Jordan Valley. He called the actions a violation of international humanitarian law.
The Israeli authorities did not immediately comment on the reports.
The exodus from al-Auja comes amid rising tensions in the occupied West Bank, where more than 500,000 Israeli settlers live alongside roughly 3.4 million Palestinians.
While clashes have occurred for decades, recent data suggests a sharp escalation. On Wednesday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported more than 1,800 settler attacks in 2025 that caused casualties or property damage.
The attacks averaged five incidents per day across 280 communities. OCHA said this is the highest daily rate of such violence since it began tracking the data in 2006. ■
