Dozens of families from Ras Ein el-Auja, one of the few remaining Palestinian Bedouin villages in the central West Bank, have fled after escalating harassment and attacks by settlers from a nearby unauthorized outpost. Residents report nighttime incursions, theft, tampering with electricity, and frequent intimidation, while police response has been rare. B’Tselem says the trend is part of a wider wave of settler violence that has displaced thousands since October 2023. Displaced families have scattered toward Jericho and Hebron, with many selling livestock or dismantling shelters without a clear destination.
Settler Violence Forces Dozens From Ras Ein el-Auja, One of the Last Bedouin Villages in the West Bank
Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Dozens of Palestinian Bedouin families have fled Ras Ein el-Auja in the central West Bank after escalating harassment and attacks by nearby settlers living in unauthorized outposts, residents and rights groups say. The village, once home to roughly 700 people across more than 100 families, has seen at least 26 households pack up in recent days and scatter in search of safety.
Palestinian residents of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank pack up their belongings and prepare to leave their homes after deciding to flee mounting settler violence, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
What Happened
According to residents and activists, the turning point came in December when settlers erected an outpost about 50 meters from Palestinian homes on the village’s northwestern edge. Since then, villagers report repeated nighttime incursions, theft of sheep and laundry, tampering with electricity, and settlers filming women and children inside homes. International activists began escorting schoolchildren for safety.
Palestinian children play in the West Bank village of Ras Ein al-Auja, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
“We have been suffering greatly from the settlers. Every day they come on foot, on tractors, or on horseback with their sheep into our homes. They enter people’s houses daily,”
Response and Broader Context
Residents say they repeatedly call Israeli authorities for help, but assistance rarely arrives. B’Tselem, an Israeli rights group assisting the community, says rising settler violence in the area has already emptied neighboring hamlets and that since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023 more than 2,000 Palestinians — including at least 44 communities — have been driven out by settler attacks in this part of the West Bank.
A Palestinian resident of Ras Ein al-Auja village, West Bank burns trash, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
The corridor where Ras Ein el-Auja sits is part of the roughly 60% of the West Bank that remained under full Israeli control under the 1990s interim accords. Settlement expansion, encouraged by successive Israeli governments and accelerated under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition, has been accompanied by a spike in violence linked to unauthorized outposts. United Nations officials and anti-settlement activists warn that this pattern is reshaping the map of the West Bank and entrenching Israeli presence.
An Israeli settler herds his flock near his outpost beside the Palestinian village of Ras Ein al-Auja in the West Bank, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Current Situation
Displaced families from Ras Ein el-Auja have dispersed to villages near Jericho and to communities nearer Hebron. Some have sold livestock and are attempting to move into towns and cities; others are dismantling structures without a clear destination. “Where will we go? There’s nowhere. We’re scattered. People’s situation is bad. Very bad,” said Zayed.
Requests for comment to Israel’s military and the local settler governing body were not answered.
Key figures: roughly 700 original residents; 26 families reported leaving in the most recent departures; B’Tselem reports over 2,000 Palestinians displaced from at least 44 communities since October 2023.
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