New protest village erected after Ein Hijleh destroyed

A group of Palestinian and international activists on Friday afternoon established a new protest village in the Jordan Valley, only hours after Israeli forces raided and destroyed the encampment of Ein Hijleh in the region.

The new protest village was set up in al-Joula in the Jiftlik area of the northern Jordan valley on Friday.

DFLP central committee member Bassa Maslamani told Ma'an that dozens of activists had established the protest village in al-Jiftlik in order to reiterate that the region is a Palestinian area, referring to Israeli plans to annex the Jordan Valley as part of peace negotiations.

Maslamani added that the camp is near the site of an Israeli "numbers graveyard," where Israeli authorities keep the remains of a number of Palestinians who were killed by Israeli forces, many during the Second Intifada.

The move came after Israeli soldiers invaded a protest village overnight that had been set up a week before in Ein Hijla in the southern Jordan Valley.

Israeli forces attacked and destroyed the protest village before dawn, injuring at least 35 protesters during the assault.

Ein Hijleh was set up last Friday to protest against Israeli confiscation policies in the area, continued Jewish settlement construction on occupied land, and recent proposals to annex the Jordan Valley.