Dozens of Palestinian families face forced displacement by Wednesday as UK weighs new action on illegal Israeli settlements

In the nearby community of Ash-Shuneh, residents who had also been verbally told by settlers to leave have since received a postponement, but threats from settlers still remain.

The threats come as Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has vowed to act more decisively against illegal settlements, with a policy announcement due tomorrow, according to the Guardian.

The community is among those served by Medical Aid for Palestinians' (MAP) mobile clinics, which provide essential healthcare services including in “Area C”, the roughly 60% of the West Bank where Palestinian communities are denied access to permanent healthcare facilities. In the first six months of 2026, MAP’s mobile clinics reached 1,128 people in Jiftlik. The clinics provide essential healthcare services, including routine check-ups, medicines, mental health services, and primary healthcare support.

If the demolitions proceed, families warn they will also lose access to vital healthcare.

Saddam Dueis, a member of Abu El Hajaj community, said: “Israeli settlers frequently intimidate and harass us almost on a daily basis, going around our homes and playing loud music and threatening us verbally, they also prevent us from grazing our livestock while they can do everything freely. Our biggest fear is the settlers attacking us inside our homes and posing a direct threat to our children. If the imminent demolitions happen, we have nowhere else to go. We cannot sleep at night, constantly worrying about it."

Saddam also said that armed settlers have repeatedly raided the community alongside Israeli forces, damaging livestock barns and other facilities. The community was demolished by Israeli forces in 2014, he said, and now sits just 50 metres from the nearest Israeli settlement. Families fear being forced from their homes again, as well as losing their livestock, which he said is their only source of income.

A member of the Ash-Shuneh community, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said: “They [settlers] regularly raid the community, accompanied by Israeli forces. They are slowly choking us. They are making it harder and harder for us to survive here. And then they come to our homes and directly threaten us to leave... I don’t know what we are supposed to do. We see that settlers are not held accountable. They act with impunity.”

The threats come amid escalating settler attacks, land seizures, and restrictions on Palestinian communities across the Jordan Valley and occupied West Bank. The UN Human Rights Office recently found that Israeli forces’ expulsion of more than 30,000 Palestinians from three West Bank refugee camps, and the prevention of their return, amounts to a violation of international law.

Israel’s apartheid policies mean that Palestinian communities in Area C, including Jiftlik, are routinely denied permits to build essential infrastructure, including permanent healthcare facilities. Israeli military checkpoints, gates and movement restrictions can make travel to healthcare facilities difficult or impossible, leaving many families dependent on MAP's mobile clinics as a lifeline.

The community member in Ash-Shuneh added: “The nearest school and health centre are two or three kilometres away, and we have to walk. Imagine a child having to walk that distance to school. Imagine a pregnant woman having to walk it to reach a health centre. Imagine a sick child needing medical care and having no choice but to walk.”

Residents say the demolition orders follow months of escalating harassment and attacks by settlers, often accompanied by Israeli forces. On 25 August, members of one family were reportedly beaten during an attack in the area:

According to the community member, “they [settlers] went to the home of a family closest to the road. There was a family of three people inside, a 58-year-old man, his wife, and their child. They beat them. They threatened them and demanded that they tell the entire community that we had 10 days to leave. They said that if we didn't, they would burn our houses, attack us, and take our livestock. More than a week has passed since then. Now we have only two days left."

The community member said the community is now calling for immediate intervention: “We want practical action on the ground. We need protection from displacement. We need protection from these attacks. And we need the international community to act according to its obligations under international law... we don't know what will happen to us.”

Saddam added: “We need intervention by the UK government to freeze and stop the imminent demolition and forced displacement; we need means to stay resilient on our land. We call on people to come, bear witness and document these violations. Stopping trade with illegal settlements is a positive first step as a punitive measure to what we are going through.”

Aisha Mansour, West Bank Director at Medical Aid for Palestinians, said: “Jiftlik is a stark example of what ethnic cleansing looks like across the occupied West Bank right now. Palestinians are being stripped of the basic conditions they need to live, while settlements expand aggressively around them and settlers – backed by Israeli forces – enjoy total impunity."

With the UK Government preparing to announce action against illegal settlements, MAP calls on ministers to ensure the policy is meaningful and addresses the wider economic support that enables settlement expansion, while offering protection to communities facing violence and displacement.

• Ban all UK trade with illegal Israeli settlements, in line with the UK's obligations under international law and the International Court of Justice's July 2024 Advisory Opinion.
• Suspend the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement until Israel ends violations of international law.
• Ensure accountability for those responsible for settlement expansion, attacks on Palestinian communities and violations affecting healthcare and other essential civilian infrastructure.
• Publish a clear plan to implement the ICJ's July 2024 Advisory Opinion, including measures to end UK economic involvement with Israel's illegal settlement enterprise and illegal occupation.

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Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) works for a future where every Palestinian has access to a comprehensive, effective and locally-led system of healthcare, and the full realisation of their rights to health and dignity. We have worked for more than 40 years in the occupied Palestinian territory and in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.