Thousands of Jewish settlers, protected by the Israeli army, stormed today several villages in northern Jordan Valley, including al-Burj, Umm al-Qaba, and Ein el-Auja.

Aref Daraghmeh, a local activist, confirmed that Israeli forces escorted a convoy of buses packed with some 4,000 Jewish settlers into the villages, where they stayed for over four hours.

Following Trump’s ridiculed peace plan announcement Israeli settlers got on their tractors and invaded The West Bank, demanding the annexation of the Jordan Valley.

Under the plan, 30% of the West Bank will be annexed – where 65,000 Palestinians live. pic.twitter.com/ARgDTjq8PQ

— Rachael Swindon #UTFC (@Rachael_Swindon) February 9, 2020

This came after Israel sealed off the main checkpoint of Tayaseer, east of Tubas city, in a prelude to the Jewish settlers’ raid into the villages.

Meanwhile, at least two Palestinians were injured in Ein el-Auja, a small Bedouin hamlet to the north of Jericho, according to local activist Mahmoud Ghawanmeh.

Ghawanmeh told WAFA that dozens of armed Jewish settlers, accompanied by attack dogs, forced their way into the village and attempted to steal livestock belonging to local residents, injuring two young Palestinian men.

This video from earlier today shows a settlers in the Jordan Valley attacking local Palestinian shepherds and a Jewish Israeli solidarity activist. The shepherds and the activist were out earlier grazing the flock when Israeli settlers arrived and became aggressive with the group pic.twitter.com/aryGkLCVUA

— Good Shepherd Collective (@Shepherds4Good) February 18, 2020

The Jordan Valley covers an area of about 1.6 million dunams (1,600 km2) and constitutes around 30 percent of the total occupied West Bank. According to a previous government report, the Valley includes about 280,000 dunams of arable land, 50,000 of which are still used by Palestinians and 27,000 by illegal Jewish settlers.

The majority of the Jordan Valley is under full Israeli military control, despite being within the West Bank. Meanwhile, at least 44 percent of the total land in the Jordan Valley has been reappropriated by Israeli forces for military purposes and training exercises.

(Palestine Chronicle, WAFA, Social Media)