A military barrier project known as the “Crimson Thread,” announced in 2025, is actively disrupting Palestinian communities in the northern Jordan Valley of the West Bank. The first phase of the project consists of a trench and military road stretching approximately 22 kilometers between the Ein Shibli and Tayasir checkpoints. This barrier effectively severs the northern Jordan Valley, isolating it from Tubas to the north and Nablus to the south.

The barrier’s route was established through nine military land seizure orders, which Dror Etkes, an Israeli land policy researcher with the NGO Kerem Navot, describes as a “clear escalation” in efforts to remove Palestinians from the area. Israeli authorities have issued 49 military land-seizure orders in the first half of 2026 alone, surpassing the total of 47 orders issued throughout 2025, according to the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission.

Etkes explained that the barrier serves two main purposes: it blocks Palestinians from accessing lands east of the barrier, where most of their farmland lies, and it connects existing illegal settlements to a new outpost under construction on Jabal Tamun. This new outpost is expected to impact an additional 8,000 to 9,000 dunams (8 to 9 square kilometers) of Palestinian agricultural land, primarily in Area B.

Local Palestinian leaders report significant consequences for residents. Mahdi Daraghmeh, head of the al-Maleh village council, stated that “settler terror and fear have pushed many families to leave,” noting that 130 families in the communities he oversees have been displaced, abandoning their homes, structures, and land.

In Ras al-Ahmar, a village in the northern Jordan Valley, all access gates are currently closed, with Israeli soldiers and settlers patrolling the area. During a recent visit to Thaer Bisharat’s home, Israeli forces imposed a heightened lockdown and destroyed three Palestinian wells nearby, including one owned by a relative of Bisharat.

This military barrier and the associated land seizures are contributing to the isolation and displacement of Palestinian communities in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley.

Sources