The state instructed the Excessive Court docket of Justice on Wednesday that Palestinian Bedouin residents of Ras Ein al-Auja might return to the Jordan Valley group in coordination with the military, however stated there’s at present no foundation to shut the world to Israelis, station a everlasting safety power there, or permit residents to rent a personal safety firm.
The replace, filed by the State Legal professional’s Workplace on behalf of the IDF’s West Financial institution commander, the Civil Administration, and Israel Police, follows a February Excessive Court docket choice ordering authorities to help the residents’ return to an outlined space of Ras Ein al-Auja and report again on enforcement measures taken to make sure safety there.
The case considerations Ras Ein al-Auja, a Palestinian Bedouin herding group north of Jericho whose residents say they have been successfully pushed out after months of sustained settler harassment, grazing takeovers, blocked entry routes, injury to infrastructure, intimidation, and livestock theft.
The state has rejected the characterization of the occasions as forcible displacement, arguing in earlier proceedings that no formal eviction came about, that residents weren’t barred from returning, and that safety forces function within the space to forestall friction and reply to complaints.
In its newest submitting, the state stated it had despatched the petitioners’ lawyer, Shlomo Lecker, a response on Tuesday to letters he had despatched in February and March. In response to the state, the dealing with of these letters was delayed after the Iran operation started on February 28, and related army officers have been required to handle the safety scenario within the space.
The state stated the residents might coordinate their return not less than seven days upfront, in order that army officers can accompany them for the primary a number of hours after they arrive. If distinctive incidents happen in actual time, the state stated, residents can contact the police emergency hotline.
The state rejected a request to station a everlasting police power within the space
The army commander’s place, the state burdened, is that there isn’t a authorized impediment stopping the petitioners or different residents of the Ras Ein al-Auja cluster from coming to the positioning. It added that no non-public civilian actor has the authority to organize them to go away or to behave independently to power them out.
On the identical time, the state rejected a number of of the sensible protections sought by the petitioners.
Lecker had requested that the world of the residential cluster be declared a closed army zone for Israelis solely.
The state stated that, after a renewed overview by officers within the Jordan Valley and the native brigade, no present justification was discovered for such a step. Nonetheless, it added that if circumstances change, the matter could also be reconsidered.
The state additional stated that if friction develops after the residents return, the related army officers intend to situation such a closure order, topic to their operational judgment on the time.
The state additionally rejected the request to station a everlasting army or police power within the space.
It stated army officers discovered no justification for such a step, citing obtainable assets, the operational duties earlier than them, the anticipated good thing about a everlasting presence, and the potential for attaining that profit via different means, together with forces arriving after experiences from the sphere.
The state additional rejected the petitioners’ different request to permit them to rent a personal civilian safety firm. It stated operational forces deployed within the sector present a response to incidents within the space, together with violent incidents.
The submitting didn’t specify what authorized or operational approval can be required for such an organization, or why that particular possibility was unavailable past the state’s place that it was pointless.
On unlawful building, the state stated the Civil Administration had already issued a stop-work and demolition order in November 2025 relating to building within the compound and the opening of a street, which it stated have been positioned on authorities property.
The state added that nothing in its letter determines the legality of any specific construction or authorizes building opposite to the regulation within the space. It famous that, from the outset, the constructions constructed within the cluster have been unlawful building.
The Excessive Court docket’s February choice didn’t make factual findings on who was answerable for the residents’ departure, nor did it undertake the petitioners’ full authorized framing.
It additionally didn’t order the dismantling of outposts, declare the world closed to Israelis, or situation a everlasting injunction. As a substitute, it took the narrower step of requiring help with return, topic to advance coordination, and a follow-up replace on enforcement.
Israeli and worldwide experiences have additionally documented the broader circumstances round Ras Ein al-Auja.
HaMakom reported in February that the group’s scenario had deteriorated considerably after the institution of a close-by grazing outpost, whereas the Related Press reported in January that greater than two dozen households had fled amid escalating harassment and violence by settlers from unauthorized outposts.
For now, the state’s place leaves the following transfer with the petitioners: whether or not to coordinate a return beneath the framework supplied, or return to the courtroom and argue that the proposed measures don’t meaningfully implement the February ruling.
