Israel Is Erecting Another Expulsion and Annexation Fence in the West Bank
Haaretz Editorial December 4, 2025
Almost in secret and certainly with no official announcement, the army has begun erecting a separation barrier in the heart of the Jordan Valley. So far, work has commenced only on Section C of the project, known as the "second wire." In the northern end of the valley, at least 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) west of the border with Jordan, a 22-kilometer security road is being built along with a fence, earthen embankments and trenches. The route is 10 meters wide, plus an additional 20 meters on each side for a "security perimeter," for a total width of 50 meters.
The barrier will surround the tiny shepherds' village of Khirbet Yarza. In the absence of any transparency, it's unclear how many other barrier sections are planned, where they'll be, how high the fence will be or what people trapped inside will need to do to leave.
The stated reason for erecting the barrier is, of course, security. In a paper outlining the project, Avi Bluth, chief of the Israel Defense Forces' Central Command, wrote that it was designed to prevent arms smuggling through the eastern border and forestall terrorist threats against the area's residents (in other words, settlers).
The barrier will prevent "unsupervised transit from northern Samaria to the Jordan Valley" and vice versa. All structures along the route are to be razed, Bluth stated, calling them "weak points" as they can provide cover for people to attack "security forces moving along the barrier's security road."
Like the separation barrier on the western side of the West Bank, this one will also separate Palestinians from Palestinians, block their access to their land and affect their livelihoods. Under the cover of security needs, the barrier is, in fact, just part and parcel of a decades-old policy whose main purpose is to build and expand settlements, thwart the natural growth of Palestinian villages and restrict Palestinian agriculture and shepherding communities.
The weapons are the declaration of "firing zones," expropriations, policies limiting water allocations to Palestinians and prohibiting them from connecting to water lines, construction bans, frequent demolitions and limits on travel. The goal that these tactics failed to achieve – the forcibly displacement of Palestinian communities – is being accomplished through acts of violence committed by settlers from outposts and sheep ranches that have sprung up in the area since 2016, which Bluth is seeking to protect. The current section of the barrier will block Palestinian access to some 11,119 acres of land and clear the area for more outposts.
This policy is much worse than de facto annexation, because it seeks to expel Palestinians from their lands and push them into small enclaves. It is a dangerous policy that has not and does not contribute to national security, but rather the opposite.
Haaretz
It's a step Israel takes in each de facto annexation, taking it one small step at a time to avoid media attention and negative publicity. |
