Siege and ethnic cleansing.. Settlers burn Khirbet Yarza and besiege families east of Tubas

Israeli occupation forces and groups of extremist settlers imposed a strict military siege on a Palestinian community located east of the city of Tubas in the northern occupied West Bank. The siege targeted about 30 Palestinian families, comprising more than 180 people, who were completely isolated from their external surroundings, with entry to or exit from the area prevented.

Local sources reported that the occupation army closed all roads and entrances leading to the eastern side of the village of Atouf, leading to a complete paralysis in the lives of the besieged residents. The sources explained that this military measure threatens the lives of more than 12,000 head of livestock that now lack water, in addition to exposing thousands of agricultural dunams to deliberate damage before the eyes of their owners who are unable to access them.

In a parallel escalation, settlers set fire to residential and agricultural structures in Khirbet Yarza, located east of Tubas, a few days after its residents were forced to leave. The fires included homes, tents, barracks, and mobile health units, in a step aimed at preventing residents from thinking about returning to their lands from which they were displaced under the threat of force.

Human rights reports confirmed that 11 Palestinian families began a forced evacuation of their homes in Khirbet Yarza since the beginning of this week, completing the tragedy of their displacement on Tuesday. Al-Baydar human rights organization described these practices as a practical application of the ethnic cleansing policy pursued by the occupation authorities to empty the Jordan Valley and the eastern slopes of the historical Palestinian presence.

Officials in the Tubas Governorate warned of a new Nakba in the region, noting that settler attacks are now carried out with full coordination and direct protection from the occupation army. The officials indicated that the extent of the damage in Khirbet Yarza has not yet been definitively determined due to the ongoing field tension and the difficulty for rescue teams or popular committees to reach the burned area.

These developments come amid an unprecedented escalation in the pace of settler attacks in the West Bank since October 8, 2023, with these attacks causing the martyrdom of 42 Palestinians and the destruction of hundreds of facilities. These attacks are concentrated in areas classified as 'C' with the aim of imposing a new demographic reality that serves the expansionist settlement plans at the expense of the occupied Palestinian territories.

Overall, official data indicates that the toll of the Israeli aggression in the West Bank has reached 1,125 martyrs and about 11,700 injured since the start of the war on the Gaza Strip. The occupation forces also continue systematic arrest campaigns that have affected about 22,000 Palestinians, coinciding with home demolitions and infrastructure destruction in various governorates.

What is happening in the Jordan Valley is a new Nakba aimed at emptying the area of its original inhabitants for the sake of settlement expansion.