PHOTO ESSAY: Palestinian shepherds endure life alongside Israeli settler outposts

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MASAFER YATTA, West Bank (AP) — The blue-and-white Israeli flags flutter from hilltops and line the roads of the occupied West Bank, signaling the growing presence of Israeli settlements and the outposts they’re building on Palestinian land.

For shepherds in the Jordan Valley, as well as in Masafer Yatta, a cluster of villages in the southern West Bank, the flags and expanding settlements have become inescapable features of the landscape, reminders of how daily life has narrowed.

Thiab Draghme and his brother, Ayman, led their flock across the dry hills of the Jordan Valley, returning to their community after searching for grazing land. Their route is carefully chosen. Some pastures are no longer considered safe because of increasing attacks by settlers. Others can be reached only with Israeli activists walking alongside them, documenting their encounters with settlers and Israeli troops and providing what they call a protective presence.

Shepherding has changed little over generations. The risks surrounding it have.

“We are people of generosity and hospitality,” said Thiab, a father of eight. “We want to live in peace.”

He said his children have grown up surrounded by Israeli demolitions, displacement and uncertainty. “What kind of future is that for a child?”

Not far away, Youssef Moussa Shinaran, 52, says he has not been able to harvest olives from his land since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began in October 2023. “You’re not allowed to move around. The house has become a prison,” said Shinaran, who lives near Susya in the southern West Bank.

According to the U.N. humanitarian agency, settler attacks have increased sharply in 2026. Between January and April, the agency recorded 761 attacks linked to Israeli settlers and nearly 2,000 people displaced by violence and access restrictions. Entire communities have found themselves increasingly isolated as new outposts expand across the surrounding hills.

The pressure extends well beyond confrontations between settlers and Palestinians.

One morning, a dispute over a brush fire brought settlers, Palestinians, soldiers and police to a hillside. After settlers accused Palestinians of starting the blaze, one Palestinian and one Israeli activist were detained before being released later that day.

The expansion of the settlements and accompanying violence has forced many Palestinian families to alter their routines. Like the Draghme brothers, some shepherds no longer graze where they once did. Others have sold their flocks after deciding the risk had become too great.

Near the village of Taybeh, northeast of Ramallah, Shoma Kaabneh’s family sold all their sheep after an Israeli outpost was built close to their home. Her husband now works in construction, earning far less than they once made selling dairy products.

In another community in the northern Jordan Valley, a Palestinian family leaves an Israeli flag that settlers planted near their sheep pen. They say removing it could provoke retaliation from settlers or soldiers.

As evening fell over the Masafer Yatta region, men gathered to pray outside homes. Nearby, settlers rode quad bikes before returning to an outpost a few hundred meters away.

Residents organize night watches, taking turns staying awake to warn neighbors if Israeli settlers approach.

Each day begins much like the last: Sheep are led into the hills. Children play between tents and homes. Families tend to their animals, repair fences and prepare meals under a horizon increasingly dominated by Israeli construction that seeks to push them away.

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This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.