JORDAN VALLEY, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), Groups of Jewish settlers have renewed their incursions into the Palestinian community of Ras al-Ahmar, east of the town of Atouf in the northern Jordan Valley, warning residents to evacuate their homes within 10 days in a new escalation aimed at emptying the strategically located area of its Palestinian population.
According to local sources, settlers dressed in uniforms resembling those of the Israeli military raided homes overnight and cut electricity to the eastern part of the community, worsening living conditions for residents. The raids coincided with tighter restrictions and the closure of roads leading to the area, leaving only one difficult-to-access route open.
Local sources also warned that plans to construct a new road would completely isolate Ras al-Ahmar from its surroundings. The warning comes after Israeli occupation authorities demolished three artesian water wells in Khirbet Atouf and Ras al-Ahmar, in what residents describe as an escalating campaign to deprive the community of essential water resources needed for survival.
The latest developments are linked to a broader land-clearing campaign underway since the beginning of the year across the Al-Baqi’a Plain and Atouf as part of the so-called “Scarlet Thread Project.” According to local sources, the project involves building military roads and a separation barrier that would seize vast areas of land in Tubas Governorate and the northern Jordan Valley.
The bulldozing operations have destroyed major water networks and uprooted trees, cutting off water supplies to approximately 30,000 dunums, about one-third of the Al-Baqi’a Plain, and severely damaging one of the region’s most important agricultural areas.
Local sources say the coordinated actions of Israeli occupation forces and settlers are part of a broader policy aimed at destroying infrastructure and expanding settlement outposts, turning one of the West Bank’s most important agricultural and water-resource areas into an unlivable environment that forces Palestinians to leave their land.
