Arab al-Malihat is a Bedouin village located in the central West Bank, northwest of the city of Jericho and near the main road connecting Jerusalem and Jericho. It is situated in the eastern part of the West Bank, in the Jericho Governorate. The area is known for its arid landscape and is home to Bedouin communities who have faced challenges related to living conditions, land access, and pressures from nearby Israeli settlements.

Since October 7, Israel has intensified its efforts to drive out Palestinian shepherd communities from the Jordan Valley. On Sunday, the Israeli occupation authorities notified the demolition of a number of homes belonging to citizens of Arab al-Malihat. The shepherds in the area, terrorized by Israeli settlers, are being forced to leave the villages in which they have lived for decades, while groups of settlers continue to attack the residents.

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Sequence of events

On September 16, Israeli settlers descended from a nearby terror outpost and storm Arab Al-Kaabna Primary School in the Bedouin village of Al-Mu'arrajat, northwest of Jericho, attacking students and teachers with sticks, dogs and weapons, and under the protection of the occupation army.

• Earlier in the morning, a settler with a herd entered the community's territory again. Human rights ctivists who were there physically separated between the community houses and the settler.

• Later, the settler returned and settled with the herd near the local school.

• About ten more settlers arrived at the school in Marjat, attacked students and the school principal.

• The teachers and pupils managed to escape.

• The army that arrived at the scene, arrested the principal of the school. A picture shows the principal of Arab al-Kaabneh Elementary School handcuffed with one of the teachers. A footage shows Israeli soldiers arresting the School staff. 3 Palestinian were detained, 2 were released, the school manager was arrested.

• No settlers were arrested.

Casualties

• Activists and Palestinians were there were severely beaten by the settlers. Including 25 y/o woman who was evacuated to Hospital.
• 8 injured Palestinians were evacuated to the hospital.
• 4 Israeli activists are also wounded.

https://x.com/Mistaclim/status/1835631465356239236

Previous threats

• On September 13, Israeli settlers poison more than 50 sheep in Arab al-Malihat community.

• On September 9, local eyewitnesses reported that an armed Jewish settler, from the Zohar outpost, obstructed the Palestinian students on their way to their first day back at school, causing panic and fear among the children and preventing them from reaching their school .The school serves the children of the Bedouin communities in the area, and this was their first day back at school after the summer break. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240909-west-bank-armed-jewish-settler-attacks-palestinian-children-on-first-day-back-to-school/

• On January 23, the members of the Palestinian community in Ma'arjat discovered that settlers dug three graves for the children size just in front of the school, and three red flowers had been placed on them, as a threat.

other Attacks

On october 28, settlers, escorted and protected by Israeli occupation forces, returned to invade and attack the Arab Al-Ka’abneh school in the Al-Ma’rajat area northwest of Jericho, central West Bank. Hassan Malihat, the general supervisor of the Al-Baidar organization for the defense of Bedouin rights, told WAFA that armed colonists attacked the school, smashed the windows of classrooms, and tried to destroy surveillance cameras, noting that the cameras were recently installed and were being prepared.

On October 27, the settlers invaded the Arab Al-Mleihat Bedouin community and attacked a Palestinian bus transporting schoolchildren and college students. They closed the road before attacking the bus and assaulting the students, including many schoolgirl

PALESTINE CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT IN THE WEST BANK:

• Settlers are attacking the school of Al-Malihat village and the children inside it. The Israeli army came to the place and instead of removing the settlers, it arrested all the teachers.

• Al-Baidar Organization for Defending Bedouin Rights reported that settlers are now attacking students and teachers and detaining them at Arab Al-Kaabna Basic School, northwest of Jericho.

• It said in an urgent statement that a group of settlers attacked the school this morning, beat the students and teachers, and tied up the school principal.

• The organization added: "The school is still besieged and the students are being subjected to abuse inside."

https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/149287

Following WAFA correspondent :

• Local sources reported that armed Israeli attacked the Arab al-Ka'abneh gathering in the Ma'arjat area, beat an elderly man, stormed the elementary school and assaulted students and teachers before detaining them.

• They added that there is a state of panic and fear among local residents, especially women and children.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS)

• "Our crews are dealing with 3 injuries from a beating by settlers in the Al-Ma'arjat area near Jericho, and they were transferred to the hospital." but children are still hostages inside school building.

• He called on all international and local humanitarian agencies to intervene immediately in the emergency situation witnessed by the Bedouin Al-Kaabneh School in the Arab Al-Malihat area, as the situation has reached an unprecedented level of danger.

Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights statement

Hassan Malihat, general supervisor of the Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights (non-governmental),pointed out that the settlers beat the students and teachers, and they are still besieging the school and abusing its staff.

The Ministry of Education statement accompanied by photos

"The storming of the Bedouin Al-Kaabneh Elementary School in the Jericho Education Department by the occupation army and settler gangs, the assault on its administrative staff and teaching staff, the terrorizing of its students, and the tampering with the school's contents and facilities is a recurring scene.This is a condemned occupation violation that reveals the ugly face of the occupation and its disregard for children's right"

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates State of Palestine

It calls on the international community to put an end to the suffering of our people and not just diagnose it. Settler terrorism against Al-Ka'abneh School is an extension of the crime of ethnic cleansing against our people The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates warns of the escalation in violations and crimes committed by settler militias and their armed elements against Palestinian citizens, their land, property and homes. And their sanctities, throughout the occupied West Bank, the latest of which was their continuous attacks on Bedouin communities in the Jordan Valley, including their attack on students and teachers at the Arab School. The main Kaabneh northwest of Jericho today. The ministry considers these crimes to be a translation of an official Israeli policy adopted by the Israeli government and supervised by extremist ministers such as Smotrich and Ben Gvir with the support and protection of the occupation army. And its various arms, in an attempt to decide the future of the occupied West Bank by accelerating the crime of gradual creeping annexation, and striking the Palestinian presence in all areas classified as (C) and emptying them completely. From its original owners, and allocating it as a strategic depth for settlement expansion, which leads to undermining The opportunity to embody the Palestinian state on the ground. The Ministry is following with great interest the war of extermination against our people and the crime of ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank with countries and components of the international community until all parties assume their legal and moral responsibilities towards the violations and crimes of the occupation and its settlers. In this regard, the Ministry calls on the international community to move out of the circle of diagnosing and describing these crimes and directing demands and appeals to the Israeli government that does not listen, and to raise the level of international reactions so that they are consistent with international law and respect the obligations of the United Nations towards our people, by taking the necessary practical measures to force the occupying state to stop the war of extermination and aggression against our people, and adopting the necessary mechanisms to implement the opinion Advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice. @MOFA.PNA https://x.com/pmofa/status/1835604838157054366

Sources

http://v.aa.com.tr/3331265 https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/149287 https://x.com/Mistaclim/status/1835631465356239236

Context

Since the outbreak of the war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, the Israeli army and settlers have escalated their attacks on Palestinian citizens and their property in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in a total of 704 Palestinians killed, including 159 children, and about 5,700 wounded, according to data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.