JERICHO, July 31, 2025 (WAFA) – Dozens of Palestinians from the Arab al-Mleihat community began returning on Thursday evening to their land northwest of Jericho, east of the occupied West Bank, nearly a month after they were forcibly displaced due to Israeli military and colonist attacks.

According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, residents were driven from their homes on July 4 by sustained assaults carried out by Israeli colonists and occupation forces, who have continued efforts to uproot the community from its land.

The al-Baydar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights confirmed the residents' return after 27 days of displacement, stating that the return took place under heavy Israeli military surveillance and pressure, and with the accompaniment of peace activists.

Hassan Mleihat, general coordinator of al-Baydar, said in a statement that shortly after the return, Israeli colonists surrounded and attacked a home where several returning residents had gathered, aiming to prevent their reestablishment in the area and keep them under constant threat of renewed expulsion.

Simultaneously, Israeli forces seized a vehicle carrying wooden planks intended for the community, claiming the materials were “prohibited construction supplies.” The vehicle was confiscated and taken to a military outpost, and Israeli police were summoned under the pretext that the vehicle was “unauthorized.”

Mleihat emphasized that these measures are part of a systematic policy aimed at depopulating the area of its indigenous residents through relentless pressure and harassment. He added that the determination of the Arab al-Mleihat residents to return to their land stands as a form of resistance against discriminatory practices and forced displacement.

M.N