JORDAN VALLEY, August 19, 2026 (WAFA) — Israeli forces and colonists have cut off water supplies to Palestinian communities in the northern Jordan Valley, placing 47 families comprising more than 300 people, around half of them children, at imminent risk of displacement, according to the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem.
B’Tselem said the last water pipelines supplying families in Ras al-Ahmar, al-Tha'la and East Atouf were cut during the past week. The organization said Israeli authorities frequently prevent water from being transported into the area, leaving communities whose livelihoods depend largely on agriculture and livestock without a reliable source of water.
The organization warned that the deliberate disruption of water infrastructure is contributing to conditions that could force the remaining Palestinian communities in the area to leave their homes.
The water crisis is unfolding alongside construction of what Israel calls the “Crimson Thread” barrier in the northern Jordan Valley. According to B’Tselem, excavation work for the project has caused extensive damage to agricultural land and water infrastructure since it began in March 2026.
The planned barrier is approximately 22 kilometers long and is intended to run from Ein Shibli to the Tayasir military checkpoint. The project could isolate large areas of Palestinian-owned land and further restrict citizens' access to agricultural fields and grazing areas.
B’Tselem said the construction has already resulted in the uprooting of olive trees, destruction of crops and greenhouses, and damage to kilometers of water and irrigation pipelines. Israeli forces uprooted more than 300 olive and grape trees and damaged water pipelines serving approximately 45,000 dunams of agricultural land in the Atouf and al-Baqi'a areas in July.
The organization also reported an escalation in attacks by Israeli colonists against Palestinian communities located along the barrier's planned route. According to B’Tselem, colonists enter the area on a daily basis, threaten citizens with expulsion, damage water pipes, block roads and restrict access to grazing land.
The developments form part of a broader pattern of displacement affecting Palestinian communities across the Jordan Valley. B’Tselem said that, as of June 30, 2026, Israeli military attacks and colonist violence had forcibly displaced 64 Palestinian communities in the West Bank, affecting more than 4,328 people, while hundreds more residents had been forced from their homes in partially displaced communities.
In January, B’Tselem documented the forced transfer of 26 families, comprising 124 people including 59 minors, from Ras 'Ein al-'Auja in the southern Jordan Valley following sustained violence by colonists and Israeli forces.
The latest water cutoffs come amid broader Israeli measures involving land seizures, road construction, tree uprooting and restrictions on Palestinian movement in the northern Jordan Valley, raising concerns that the combined measures are creating conditions that could accelerate the displacement of Palestinian communities from the area.
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