As Israeli forces bulldoze farmland and settlers encroach on Palestinian villages, fears of annexation and ethnic cleansing grow, with U.S. policy shifts emboldening the occupation.

• Israeli military bulldozes farmland near Bardala, cutting off Palestinian farmers from vital grazing pastures.

• Settler outposts and military patrols threaten to displace entire communities, undermining prospects for a Palestinian state.

• U.S. policy shifts under Trump embolden Israeli annexation efforts, raising fears of a repeat of the 1948 Nakba.

Just meters from the last homes in Bardala, a fertile Palestinian village in the northern Jordan Valley, the Israeli military has begun bulldozing a dirt road and ditch, effectively severing the community from its ancestral grazing lands. The move, framed as a “security measure” by the Israeli army, is part of a broader strategy to tighten military control and expand settler outposts in the West Bank, threatening the livelihoods of thousands of Palestinians and accelerating fears of annexation.

For the farmers of Bardala, the new road is not just a barrier — it is a death knell for their way of life. The pastures beyond the road sustain approximately 10,000 sheep and goats, the lifeblood of the village’s economy. Without access to these lands, farmers will be forced to sell their herds, leaving them destitute and pushing them closer to abandoning their homes. “Bardala would be a small prison,” said Ibrahim Sawafta, a member of the Bardala village council, as he sat outside his home. “The overall goal is to restrict people, to force them to leave the Jordan Valley.”

A silent annexation in progress

The bulldozers and military patrols in Bardala are not isolated incidents. They are part of a calculated effort to reshape the West Bank, fracturing Palestinian territory and undermining any possibility of a contiguous, sovereign Palestinian state. Since the outbreak of war in Gaza, Israeli settlement activity has accelerated, with 43 new outposts established in the West Bank, according to the Israeli organization Peace Now. These outposts, often accompanied by violent settler groups, have systematically excluded Palestinians from agricultural land, pushing them further into poverty and displacement.

The Jordan Valley, once a relatively untouched area, has become a focal point for this expansion. Settler outposts, marked by blue and white Israeli flags, have sprung up on hilltops around Bardala, intimidating semi-nomadic Bedouin shepherds into abandoning their camps. “The settlers would attack us every Saturday, not allowing us to leave the house at all,” said Mahmoud Kaabneh, a Bedouin shepherd who fled his home in Um Aljmal after repeated settler incursions.

US policy fuels the fire

The surge in settlement activity and military control has been emboldened by shifting U.S. policy under former President Donald Trump. Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his administration’s ties to the settler movement have sent a clear message to Israeli leaders: annexation is on the table. While the U.S. has not yet formally endorsed full annexation, Trump’s suggestion that Palestinians leave Gaza and his vision of redeveloping the territory as a U.S.-controlled resort have alarmed Palestinians, who see echoes of the 1948 Nakba — the mass displacement of 750,000 Palestinians during the creation of Israel.

Israeli politicians, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have seized on this momentum, vowing to push for annexation by 2025. Smotrich, himself a settler, has called for Washington’s support, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has deepened its opposition to ceding control of the West Bank, citing security concerns following the October 7, 2023, attack near Gaza.

The nakba’s shadow looms large

For Palestinians, the events unfolding in Bardala and across the West Bank are a grim reminder of their history. The bulldozers, the settlers, and the military patrols are not merely tools of occupation — they are instruments of erasure, designed to strip Palestinians of their land, their livelihoods, and their future. “Israel effectively and practically confiscates the land,” Sawafta said, his words heavy with the weight of generations.

The parallels to the Nakba are impossible to ignore. Just as in 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their homes, the people of Bardala and other West Bank villages now face the prospect of permanent displacement. The fertile fields and greenhouses that once symbolized their prosperity are being replaced by barbed wire and settler caravans, a stark reminder that history, when left unchecked, has a way of repeating itself.

As the world watches, the question remains: will the international community stand by as Israel reshapes the West Bank in its image, or will it intervene to stop the slow-motion erasure of a people? For the farmers of Bardala, the answer may come too late. Their land, their herds, and their way of life are already slipping through their fingers, one bulldozed road at a time.

Sources include:

Reuters.com

Reuters.com

Reuters.com