Hamra (Israeli Settlement)

Hamra is situated in the northern Jordan Valley, roughly 15 miles east of Nablus.[1] A 2024 report places it southeast of Tammun, near the Palestinian village of Jiftlik, along the route toward the Jordan Valley.[2]

A Jordan Valley Regional Council community newspaper cataloged by the National Library of Israel includes Hamra in its title alongside the council's other communities. The council is identified as the periodical's publisher and an additional creator.[3]

Hamra was founded in 1971.[4] Five years later, the community was the subject of an archival film cataloged by the National Library of Israel under the title "The new settlement of Hamra in the Jordan Valley." The record dates the material to 1976, identifies Hebrew and English as its languages, and lists it as part of the Dan Hadani Archive.[5]

The National Library also catalogs a Jordan Valley Regional Council community newspaper published from 2007 to 2009 whose title includes Hamra, documenting the community's continuing place within the regional network.[3]

The Jewish Virtual Library's population table records substantial variation followed by sustained growth in Hamra's population. It lists 149 residents in 1999, 91 in 2009, 188 in 2020, 205 in 2021, 222 in 2022, 267 in 2023, 278 in 2024, and 286 in 2025.[4]

A September 2019 Ynet report described Hamra as a community of approximately 50 families. The report did not provide a total population figure for that year.[6]

Hamra's documented economy is closely connected to Jordan Valley agriculture. A 2022 travel report described Eyal Assulin, a farmer from the moshav, cultivating organic dates and leading agricultural tours through date groves and farming plots in the valley.[7]

The regional-council newspaper cataloged for 2007–2009 provides evidence of a shared community publication linking Hamra with other Jordan Valley localities under the regional council.[3]

A 2022 travel report highlighted the organic date grove and surrounding agricultural plots visited on tours departing from Hamra. The route included a viewpoint along the Jordan River bank and combined the valley landscape with explanations of local agriculture and settlement.[7]

Hamra and its surrounding roads have been the sites of several serious terrorist attacks. In February 2002, a terrorist infiltrated the settlement after cutting through two perimeter fences. He killed a soldier and entered the Ohana family home, where Miri Ohana and her daughter Yael were killed. Hamra was guarded at the time by three non-combat soldiers, and a warning had arrived approximately ten minutes before the attack began. Two additional soldiers were wounded in subsequent exchanges of fire. A senior officer eventually killed the terrorist by firing through a window, and an initial army inquiry found failures in the security response.[8]

On April 7, 2023, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on the Dee family's vehicle near Hamra as they traveled north toward Tiberias. Sisters Maia and Rina Dee were killed at the scene, while their mother, Lucy Dee, was critically wounded and died three days later.[9] Their father was traveling in a separate car with two other children; after hearing the gunshots, he turned back and was among the first responders to reach the scene.[1]

The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center located the attack at Hamra Junction in the northern Jordan Valley and reported that the terrorists' vehicle was subsequently found in Nablus.[10] An initial report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies described the scene as a desert road outside the community.[1]

A 2019 Ynet report drew attention to an unusual concentration of cancer cases among Hamra's small population. The article body reported that ten residents were then dealing with cancer and that six residents had died from the disease in recent years. The cases were clustered in the settlement's southwestern area, in some instances only a few meters apart.[6]

Residents and the head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council sought explanations, but investigations into possible environmental causes — including examinations of power lines and a local antenna — did not identify a source. Residents also raised concerns about the settlement's old water pipes, though the article presented this as a suspicion rather than an established cause. Council head David Elhayani said specialists had not found anything definitive.[6]

Individual accounts included in the report described prolonged treatment courses. One resident had undergone eight chemotherapy treatments and 28 radiation treatments for uterine cancer. Another reported diagnoses of bladder cancer in 2005 and bone-marrow cancer in 2008, followed by a recurrence in 2011.[6] No cause for the reported pattern had been identified at the time of publication.

Hamra's legal status forms part of the broader international dispute over Israeli settlements. UN Security Council Resolution 2334 states that Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 have "no legal validity" and constitute a violation of international law, and it demands that Israel cease settlement activity. The resolution addresses settlements generally and does not name Hamra.[11]

The International Court of Justice's July 2024 advisory opinion similarly found Israel's settlement policy contrary to international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention. The opinion was advisory rather than binding and did not address Hamra individually.[12]

Israel disputes the prevailing international characterization. It maintains that the West Bank is disputed rather than legally occupied territory because no recognized sovereign power controlled it in 1967, and that its final status should be resolved through negotiations.[13] The cited resolution, advisory opinion, and summaries of Israel's position concern settlement policy generally rather than a Hamra-specific legal proceeding.