On Wednesday, 18 February 2026, residents of the al-Burj community finished taking down, packing up and loading their belongings onto trucks and left the site that had been their home for many years in the Hamam al-Maleh area of the northern Jordan Valley, about eight kilometers east of Tubas. It was displaced by military-backed settler violence and house demolitions by the Civil Administration.
On Sunday, 8 February 2026, the Civil Administration demolished a family home in the community where four people lived, including two children, leaving them homeless. On the same day, the Civil Administration also demolished structures in the nearby community of 'Ein al-Meyteh, located less than a kilometer east of al-Burj. In the days that followed, settlers attacked 'Ein al-Meyteh, including setting fire to a vacant structure and attempting to set fire to an occupied home. Following the demolitions and settler attacks, the community of ‘Ein al-Meyteh was forced to leave in search of a safer place to live, and the community of al-Burj, consisting of 10 families, numbering 64 people, including 41 children, soon followed suit.
The community of al-Burj, whose residents lived on land partly owned by the Latin Patriarchate and partly privately owned by families from Tubas, was one of three shepherding communities in the Hamamat al-Maleh area, alongside the communities of Khirbet al-Maleh and 'Ein al-Meyteh. For many years, the communities have suffered harassment by state authorities, including repeated home demolitions and confiscation of property. In recent years, they have also been subjected to harassment from settlers, including frequent incursions, intimidation, denial of access to grazing areas and property damage. Settler violence grew worse after the establishment of the Havat Yad Hashomer outpost east of the Tevetz army base in August 2024, and Tzvi Ha’ofarim outpost near the Tayasir Checkpoint at the beginning of 2025.
In July 2025, in a particularly severe settler attack in the Hamamat al-Maleh area, about 1.5 kilometers east of al-Burj, settlers stole about 350 sheep and goats, killed about 100 of them and injured many others. After this attack, families in the area temporarily moved their flocks to Area A, and some left the area in the following months. Since then, settlers have been invading the three communities on an almost daily basis, riding ATVs and motorcycles in them, wandering around, making noise and scaring residents. They have also been grazing their cattle herds on the communities’ land.
In one incident, which took place on Monday, 19 January 2026, at around 10:00 A.M., two settlers who arrived from the direction of the outpost Tzvi Ha’ofarim, entered the area of the community of al-Burj with the outpost’s cattle herd. After residents tried to drive them away from the homes, a confrontation developed. Three more settlers then arrived from the direction of the outpost, followed by soldiers shortly after. During the incident, a settler attacked a community resident in front of the soldiers, and a soldier fired three shots in the air. The soldiers detained three residents due to false allegations made by settlers that they had assaulted them. The soldiers handcuffed and blindfolded the three men and took them to the Tayasir Checkpoint, where they were held for about three hours before being released.