Why is the Jordan Valley so important to Israel?
Palestinians in the Jordan Valley face daily incursions and land grabs by the Israeli army and settlers, actions that aim to reinforce Israel's policy of maintaining control over the valley at any cost.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — For no apparent reason, the Israeli army seized a water network July 3 in the northern Jordan Valley. The network used to irrigate 30 acres of land planted with grapes in the village of al-Jiftlik. The land is owned by Palestinian farmer Nail Bani Odeh, and the attack is an example of the daily Israeli incursions that affect residents of the northern Jordan Valley, their agricultural land, their places of residence and their livestock.
Such attacks are carried out by both the Israeli army and the settlers. Fawzi Daraghmeh, a 47-year-old resident of Khirbet Samra in the Jordan Valley, cannot take action against a settler whose livestock has been grazing his land for weeks.
