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The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger
Jordan Rift Valley The Jordan Rift Valley, also Jordan Valley ''Bīrʿāt haYardēn'', ar, الغور Al-Ghor or Al-Ghawr),, date=November 2022 also called the Syro-African Depression, is an elongated depression located in modern-day Israel, and Jordan. This g ...
. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to the lower course of the Jordan River, from the spot where it exits the Sea of Galilee in the north, to the end of its course where it flows into the Dead Sea in the south. In a wider sense, the term may also cover the Dead Sea basin and the
Arabah The Arabah, Araba or Aravah ( he, הָעֲרָבָה, ''hāʿĂrāḇā''; ar, وادي عربة, ''Wādī ʿAraba''; lit. "desolate and dry area") is a loosely defined geographic area south of the Dead Sea basin, which forms part of the bord ...
valley, which is the rift valley segment beyond the Dead Sea and ending at
Aqaba Aqaba (, also ; ar, العقبة, al-ʿAqaba, al-ʿAgaba, ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative centre of the Aqaba Govern ...
/ Eilat, farther south. The valley, in the common, narrow sense, is a long and narrow trough, long if measured "
as the crow flies __NOTOC__ The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver ...
", with a width averaging with some points narrowing to over most of the course, before widening out to a
delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...
when reaching the Dead Sea. Due to meandering, the length of the river itself is . This is the valley with the lowest elevation in the world, beginning at below
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...
(BSL) and terminating at less than BSL. On both sides, to the east and west, the valley is bordered by high, steep escarpments rising from the valley floor by between to . Over most of its length, the Jordan Valley forms the border between
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
to the east, and
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and the
Israeli-occupied West Bank The Israeli occupation of the West Bank began on 7 June 1967, when Israeli forces captured and occupied the territory (including East Jerusalem), then occupied by Jordan, during the Six-Day War, and continues to the present day. The status of ...
, to the west. The details are regulated by the
Israel–Jordan peace treaty The Israel–Jordan peace treaty (formally the "Treaty of Peace Between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan"), he, הסכם השלום בין ישראל לירדן; transliterated: ''Heskem Ha-Shalom beyn Yisra'el Le-Yarden'' ...
of 1994, which establishes an "administrative boundary" between Jordan and the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, without prejudice to the status of that territory. Israel has allocated 86% of the land, in the west bank portion of the valley, to
Israeli settlements Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
.'Ripe for Abuse:Palestinian Child Labor in Israeli Agricultural Settlements in the West Bank,'
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
13 April 2015.
Annexation of the Jordan Valley Annexation of the Jordan Valley is the proposed application of Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley. The idea has been advocated by some Israeli politicians since the Israeli occupation of the West Bank began in 1967, most notably with t ...
to Israel has been proposed by a variety of Israeli politicians, most recently
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
in September 2019.


Geography

According to the definition used in this article, what is elsewhere sometimes termed the Upper Jordan Valley is not considered part of the Jordan Valley. The Upper Jordan Valley comprises the Jordan River sources and the course of the Jordan River through the
Hula Valley The Hula Valley ( he, עמק החולה, translit. ''Emek Ha-Ḥula''; also transliterated as Huleh Valley, ar, سهل الحولة) is an agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water, which used to be Lake Hula, prior to ...
and the
Korazim Plateau The Korazim Plateau ( he, רמת כורזים, ''Ramat Korazim'', also spelled Corazim), is a volcanic plateau, located in northern Israel. The plateau is bounded between by the Hula Valley in the north, Sea of Galilee in the south, the mountai ...
, both north of the Sea of Galilee. The lower part of the valley, known in Arabic as the ''Ghor'' (غور), includes the Jordan River segment south of the Sea of Galilee which ends at the Dead Sea. Several degrees warmer than adjacent areas, its year-round agricultural climate, fertile soils and water supply have made the Ghor a key agricultural area. South of the Dead Sea, the continuation of the larger Jordan Rift Valley contains the hot, dry area known as '' Wadi 'Araba'', the "wilderness" or "Arabah desert" of the Bible.


Demography


Jordanians

Prior to the 1967
Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...
, the valley's Jordanian side was home to about 60,000 people largely engaged in agriculture and pastoralism. By 1971, the Valley's Jordanian population had declined to 5,000 as a result of the 1967 war and the 1970–71 " Black September" war between the Palestine Liberation Organization and
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
. Investments by the Jordanian government in the region allowed the population to rebound to over 85,000 by 1979. 80% of the farms in the Jordanian part of the valley are family farms no larger than 30 dunams (3 ha, 7.4 ac).


Palestinians

Before 1967, there were approximately 250,000 Palestinians living in the part of the valley that lies in the West Bank.Settling area C: the Jordan Valley Exposed
Al haq, 2018
As of 2009, the number of Palestinians remaining in this area was approximately 58,000, living in about twenty permanent communities, mostly concentrated in the city of Jericho and communities in the greater Jericho area in the south of the valley. Of these, approximately 10,000 live in Area C which is administered by the Israeli
Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) is a unit in the Israeli Ministry of Defense that engages in coordinating civilian issues between the Government of Israel, the Israel Defense Forces, international organizati ...
, including approximately 2,700 people who live in small Bedouin and herding communities.Background on the Jordan Valley
B'Tselem, May 2011 & updated October 2013


Israelis

Inside pre-1967 borders, 17,332 Israelis live in the independent municipality of
Beit She'an Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is be ...
, 12,000 live in 24 communities in
Valley of Springs Regional Council Emek HaMa'ayanot Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית עמק המעיינות, ''Mo'atza Azorit Emek HaMa'ayanot'', lit. ''Valley of the Springs Regional Council'') is a regional council in the Northern District of Israel that encompas ...
that are located in the valley. An additional 12,400 live in 22 communities in the
Emek HaYarden Regional Council Emek HaYarden Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית עמק הירדן, ''Mo'atza Azorit 'Emeq HaYarden'', ''lit.'' Jordan Valley Regional Council) is a regional council comprising much of the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, the southe ...
whose southern half is in the valley. In the West Bank the Israeli
Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית בקעת הירדן, ''Mo'atza Azorit Bik'at HaYarden'', ''lit.'' Jordan Valley Regional Council), also Aravot HaYarden (''lit.'' Jordan Plains) is a regional council covering 21 Isra ...
contains 21 settlements with a total of 4,200 residents as of 2014, and the independent municipality of
Ma'ale Efrayim Ma'ale Efrayim ( he, מַעֲלֵה אֶפְרַיִם, lit. ''Ascent of Ephraim'') is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, organized as a secular settlement and a local council, located along the eastern slopes of the Samarian mountains in th ...
an additional 1,206 as of 2015.


Migration route

The Jordan Valley is part of the
Levantine corridor The Levantine corridor is the relatively narrow strip between the Mediterranean Sea to the northwest and deserts to the southeast which connects Africa to Eurasia. This corridor is a land route of migrations of animals between Eurasia and Afric ...
and constitutes a route for animal migration, including in the past for the developing human species.


Early humans

Genetic studies indicate that during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, the Levantine corridor, of which the Jordan Valley is one part, was more important for bi-directional human migrations between Africa and Eurasia than was the Horn of Africa.


Birds

Nowadays the Jordan Valley still is an essential part of one of the main migration routes for birds in the world; within the region, it constitutes the Eastern Route which, together with the parallel Western Route and the Southern-Eilat Mountains Route, allow an estimated 500 million birds belonging 200 species to fly across Israel twice a year - in spring from here or from Africa towards their breeding places in Asia and Europe, and in autumn on the way back to their winter home in the Levant or in Africa.The Jordan River Valley: A Vital Migratory Flyway
Friends of the Earth Middle East EcoPeace Middle East, formerly Friends of the Earth Middle East (?–2014), is a regional environmental peacebuilding organization in the Middle East, bringing together Jordanians, Palestinians, and Israelis to create shared solutions for the m ...
. Accessed 17 January 2020
The northern Jordan valley has two adjoining and complementary Important Bird Area (IBAs) recognised by BirdLife International, separated only by the political boundary of the Jordan River. The Jordanian (North Ghor) IBA on the eastern side covers some 6,000 ha, with the Israeli one covering 7,000 ha of the western side. Significant bird populations for which the IBAs were designated, including resident, wintering and passage migrant species, comprise the following: black francolins,
marbled teal The marbled duck, or marbled teal (''Marmaronetta angustirostris'') is a medium-sized species of duck from southern Europe, northern Africa, and western and central Asia. The scientific name, ''Marmaronetta angustirostris'', comes from the Greek ...
s,
black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
and
white stork The white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to e ...
s, black-crowned night herons,
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
and little egrets,
collared Collar may refer to: Human neckwear * Clerical collar (informally ''dog collar''), a distinctive collar used by the clergy of some Christian religious denominations * Collar (clothing), the part of a garment that fastens around or frames the nec ...
and
black-winged pratincole The black-winged pratincole (''Glareola nordmanni'') is a wader in the pratincole bird family, Glareolidae. The genus name is a diminutive of Latin ''glarea'', "gravel", referring to a typical nesting habitat for pratincoles. The species nam ...
s,
Egyptian vulture The Egyptian vulture (''Neophron percnopterus''), also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh's chicken, is a small Old World vulture and the only member of the genus ''Neophron''. It is widely distributed from the Iberian Peninsula and ...
s,
European honey-buzzard The European honey buzzard (''Pernis apivorus''), also known as the pern or common pern, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Etymology Despite its English name, this species is more closely related to kites of the genera '' Leptodon'' a ...
s,
Levant sparrowhawk The Levant sparrowhawk (''Accipiter brevipes'') is a small bird of prey. It measures in length with a wingspan of . The female is larger than the male, but the difference is not as marked as with Eurasian sparrowhawk. The adult male is blue-grey ...
s and Dead Sea sparrows.


History, geopolitics, and events


Under the Ottoman Empire

The Jordan valley was under control of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
from their victory over the Mamluks in 1486, which involved a small battle in the valley en route to
Khan Yunis Khan Yunis ( ar, خان يونس, also spelled Khan Younis or Khan Yunus; translation: ''Caravansary fJonah'') is a city in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Khan Yunis had a population of 142,6 ...
and
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
, until 1918. The Ottoman internal administrative divisions varied throughout the period with the Jordan river being at times a provincial border, and at times not. However the valley was contained within the group of provinces termed Ottoman Syria.
Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem The Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem ( ota, مُتَصَرِّف قدسی مُتَصَرِّفلغ, ; ar, متصرفية القدس الشريف, ), also known as the Sanjak of Jerusalem, was an Ottoman district with special administrative status ...
during some periods contained both banks of the Jordan, while during others the valley was bordered by Syria Vilayet and Beirut Vilayet.


World War I

In 1916, Britain and France engaged in the Sykes–Picot Agreement in which the Ottoman territory of the Levant, which divided the yet undefeated Ottoman regions of the Levant between France and Britain. Under the agreement, the Jordan valley would be entirely within the British sphere of control. In February 1918, as part of the wider Sinai and Palestine Campaign the British empire's
Egyptian Expeditionary Force The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a British Empire military formation, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–15), at the beginning ...
captured Jericho. Subsequently, during the British occupation of the Jordan Valley the
Desert Mounted Corps The Desert Mounted Corps was an army corps of the British Army during the First World War, of three mounted divisions renamed in August 1917 by General Edmund Allenby, from Desert Column. These divisions which served in the Sinai and Pales ...
were placed in the valley to protect the eastern flank of the British forces facing Ottoman forces in the hills of Moab. This position provided a strong position from which to launch the Battle of Megiddo which lead to the capture of Amman, Damascus, and the collapse of the Ottoman armies in the Levant.


Formation of Transjordan and Palestine

Following conflicting promises and agreements during WWI, in particular
McMahon–Hussein Correspondence The McMahon–Hussein Correspondence is a series of letters that were exchanged during World War I in which the Government of the United Kingdom agreed to recognize Arab independence in a large region after the war in exchange for the Sharif ...
and Balfour Declaration, as well as a power vacuum following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire led to a series of diplomatic conferences and treaties (
Treaty of Sèvres The Treaty of Sèvres (french: Traité de Sèvres) was a 1920 treaty signed between the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire. The treaty ceded large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, Greece and Italy, as well ...
,
San Remo conference The San Remo conference was an international meeting of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council as an outgrowth of the Paris Peace Conference, held at Villa Devachan in Sanremo, Italy, from 19 to 26 April 1920. The San Remo Resolution pas ...
,
Paulet–Newcombe Agreement The Paulet–Newcombe Agreement or Paulet-Newcombe Line, was a 1923 agreement between the British and French governments regarding the position and nature of the boundary between the Mandates of Palestine and Iraq, attributed to Great Britain, ...
) which convened with continued armed struggle between the great powers, their proxies, and Arab elements that were part of the
Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On ...
. Following the
Battle of Maysalun The Battle of Maysalun ( ar, معركة ميسلون), also called the Battle of Maysalun Pass or the Battle of Khan Maysalun (french: Bataille de Khan Mayssaloun), was a four-hour battle fought between the forces of the Arab Kingdom of Syria an ...
the
Transjordan Transjordan may refer to: * Transjordan (region), an area to the east of the Jordan River * Oultrejordain, a Crusader lordship (1118–1187), also called Transjordan * Emirate of Transjordan, British protectorate (1921–1946) * Hashemite Kingdom of ...
area east of the valley become a no man's land and the British, who directly controlled the area west of the valley, chose to avoid any definite connection between the two areas. Following the
Cairo Conference (1921) The 1921 Cairo Conference, described in the official minutes as Middle East Conference held in Cairo and Jerusalem, March 12 to 30, 1921, was a series of meetings by British officials for examining and discussing Middle Eastern problems, and to fr ...
and meetings with
Abdullah bin Hussein Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein ( ar, عبدالله الثاني بن الحسين , translit=ʿAbd Allāh aṯ-ṯānī ibn al-Ḥusayn; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of ...
it was agreed that he would administer the territory east of the Jordan River,
Emirate of Transjordan The Emirate of Transjordan ( ar, إمارة شرق الأردن, Imārat Sharq al-Urdun, Emirate of East Jordan), officially known as the Amirate of Trans-Jordan, was a British protectorate established on 11 April 1921,
. The area west of the Jordan river was allocated in 1922 to the
Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
under British Administration. The Jordan river, in the middle of the Jordan valley, was the border between these two entities. This agreement split the Jordan valley, which during Ottoman times was under a single administration, to two distinct entities. Following the division, the concept of an east and west bank of the Jordan, as separate territorial units took hold. As a political example to this new reality, in 1929
Ze'ev Jabotinsky Ze'ev Jabotinsky ( he, זְאֵב זַ׳בּוֹטִינְסְקִי, ''Ze'ev Zhabotinski'';, ''Wolf Zhabotinski'' 17 October 1880  – 3 August 1940), born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky, was a Russian Jewish Revisionist Zionist leade ...
composed the political poem Two Banks to the Jordan which asserts that the Jordan river should be the central feature of
Greater Israel Greater Israel ( he, ארץ ישראל השלמה; ''Eretz Yisrael Hashlema'') is an expression, with several different biblical and political meanings over time. It is often used, in an irredentist fashion, to refer to the historic or desired bo ...
, with the repeating refrain: "Two Banks has the Jordan/This is ours and, that is as well."The East Bank of the Jordan
Lyrics, ZFA website


Naharayim power plant

in 1926
Pinhas Rutenberg Pinhas Rutenberg (russian: Пётр Моисеевич Рутенберг, Pyotr Moiseyevich Rutenberg; he, פנחס רוטנברג: 5 February 1879 – 3 January 1942) was a Russian Jewish engineer, businessman, and political activist. He pl ...
was granted a 70-year concession for the construction of hydroelectric plants along the Jordan River; the only plant built was the
First Jordan Hydro-Electric Power House The First Jordan Hydro-Electric Power House, also known as the Rutenberg Power Station or the Naharayim Power Plant or the Tel Or Power Plant, was a conventional dammed hydroelectric power station on the Jordan river, which operated between 19 ...
in the Jordan valley at the confluence of the
Yarmouk River The Yarmuk River ( ar, نهر اليرموك, translit=Nahr al-Yarmūk, ; Greek: Ἱερομύκης, ; la, Hieromyces or ''Heromicas''; sometimes spelled Yarmouk), is the largest tributary of the Jordan River. It runs in Jordan, Syria and Israel ...
with the Jordan River near Naharayim. The Naharayim plant was a major source of
electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...
to the British Mandate and the Emirate of Transjordan. An adjacent company town, Tel Or, was founded in the vicinity of the power plant. The plant remained in operation until the war of 1948.


1948 Arab–Israeli War

Under the 1947
United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations, which recommended a partition of Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. On 29 November 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted the Plan as ...
the northern portion of the western side of the valley would have been assigned to the Jewish state, and the southern portion to an Arab state. However hostilities between the Arabs and Jews commenced soon after the UN resolution as 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. The Jewish settlements in the Jordan valley were particularly disconnected from the rest of the Jewish
Yishuv Yishuv ( he, ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv ( he, הישוב, ''the Yishuv''), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri ( he, הישוב העברי, ''the Hebrew Yishuv''), is the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the ...
, were fairly small and dispersed among Arab settlements, and relied on a tenuous supply line via Nazareth. In March 1948 Haganah forces captured
Samakh, Tiberias Samakh ( ar, سمخ) was a Palestinian people, Palestinian Arab village at the south end of Lake Tiberias (the Sea of Galilee) in Ottoman Galilee and later Mandatory Palestine (now in Israel). It was the site of Battle of Samakh (1918), battle ...
, located at the northern edge of the valley, the inhabitants fleeing to Nazareth. The Arab population of Tiberias (6,000 residents or 47.5% of the population) was evacuated under British military protection on 18 April 1948 following clashes in the mixed city. The
Battle of Mishmar HaEmek The Battle of Mishmar HaEmek was a ten-day battle fought from 4 to 15 April 1948 between the Arab Liberation Army ( Yarmouk Battalion) commanded by Fawzi al-Qawuqji and the Haganah (Palmach and HISH) commanded by Yitzhak Sadeh and Dan Laner. The ...
in April 1948 a strategic settlement located on the route to the valley was successfully defended by Jewish forces, and Arab positions surrounding it were captured in a counter-attack. The Jewish supply route to the Jordan Valley and Galilee Panhandle was further secured by the Battle of Ramat Yohanan and a modus vivendi agreed with Druze in the Galilee. Subsequently,
Operation Yiftach Operation Yiftach ( he, מבצע יפתח, ''Mivtza Yiftah'') was a Palmach offensive carried out between 28 April and 23 May 1948. The objectives were to capture Safed and to secure the eastern Galilee before the British Mandate ended on 14 May ...
further opened up supply lines via Safed. In the lead up to the full 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Naharayim, Tel-Or, and Gesher were shelled on 27–29 April 1948 by the
Arab Legion The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of independent Jordan, with a final Arabization of its command taking place in 1 ...
. The power plant workers and their families without a Jordanian ID card evacuated into Mandatory Palestine. On 15 May 1948, the day hostilities formally commenced with Arab states, an Iraqi brigade invaded via Naharyim in an unsuccessful attempt to take Gesher. After the Tel Or village and the power plant were overrun by the Arab forces they were destroyed. To prevent Iraqi tanks from attacking Jewish villages in the Jordan Valley, the sluice gates of the Degania dam were opened. The rush of water, which deepened the Jordan river, was instrumental in blocking the Iraqi-Jordanian incursion. On 20 May 1948, after a failure to reach an agreement with
Transjordan Transjordan may refer to: * Transjordan (region), an area to the east of the Jordan River * Oultrejordain, a Crusader lordship (1118–1187), also called Transjordan * Emirate of Transjordan, British protectorate (1921–1946) * Hashemite Kingdom of ...
's King
Abdullah Abdullah may refer to: * Abdullah (name), a list of people with the given name or surname * Abdullah, Kargı, Turkey, a village * ''Abdullah'' (film), a 1980 Bollywood film directed by Sanjay Khan * '' Abdullah: The Final Witness'', a 2015 Pakis ...
, the southern Jordan valley
Beit HaArava Beit HaArava ( he, בֵּית הָעֲרָבָה, lit. ''House of the Arabah, Arava'') is an Israeli settlement and kibbutz in the West Bank. Located near the Dead Sea and Jericho at the eponymous Beit HaArava Junction, the intersection of Highwa ...
and the nearby north Dead sea Kalia were abandoned due to their isolation amidst Arab settlements. The residents and fighters of the villages evacuated via boat over the Dead Sea to the Israeli post at Sodom. Concurrently, on 14 May Syrian forces began attacking via the Syrian-Mandate border in a series of engagement called
Battles of the Kinarot Valley The Battles of the Kinarot Valley ( he, הַמַּעֲרָכָה בְּבִקְעַת כִּנָּרוֹת, ''HaMa'arakha BeBik'at Kinarot''), is a collective name for a series of military engagements between the Haganah and the Syrian army du ...
. The Syrians thrust down the eastern and southern Sea of Galilee shores, and attacked Samakh the neighboring
Tegart fort A Tegart fort is a type of militarized police fort constructed throughout Palestine during the British Mandatory period, initiated as a measure against the 1936–1939 Arab Revolt. Etymology The forts are named after their designer, British p ...
and the settlements of Sha'ar HaGolan,
Ein Gev Ein Gev ( he, עֵין גֵּב) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee near the ruins of the Greco-Roman settlement of Hippos, it falls under the jurisdiction of Emek HaYarden Regional Council. In ...
, but they were bogged down by resistance.Morris,2008, pp. 236, 237, 247, 253, 254 Later, they attacked Samakh using tanks and aircraft, and on 18 May they succeeded in conquering SamakhPollack 2002, pp. 448–57 and occupied the abandoned Sha'ar HaGolan. On 21 May, the Syrian army was stopped at kibbutz Degania Alef, at the northern edge of the Jordan valley. where local militia reinforced by elements of the
Carmeli Brigade 2nd "Carmeli" Brigade (Hebrew: חטיבת כרמלי, Hativat Carmeli, former 165th Brigade) is a reserve infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, part of the Northern Command. Today the brigade consists of four battalions, including one recon ...
halted Syrian armored forces with
Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with fla ...
s, hand grenades and a single
PIAT The Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank (PIAT) Mk I was a British man-portable anti-tank weapon developed during the Second World War. The PIAT was designed in 1942 in response to the British Army's need for a more effective infantry anti-tank weapon ...
. The remaining Syrian forces were driven off the next day by four Napoleonchik mountain guns. Following the Syrian forces' defeat at the Deganias a few days later, they abandoned the Samakh village. Following the heavy fighting, the Arab inhabitants of the city of
Beit She'an Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is be ...
in the northern valley
fled ''Fled'' is a 1996 American buddy action comedy film directed by Kevin Hooks. It stars Laurence Fishburne and Stephen Baldwin as two prisoners chained together who flee during an escape attempt gone bad. Plot An interrogator prepares a man to ...
across the Jordan River. Following the first truce which ended on 8 July, the successful Israeli
Operation Dekel Operation Dekel ( he, מבצע דקל , Mivtza Dekel, Operation Palm Tree), was the largest offensive by Israeli forces in the north of Palestine after the first truce of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was carried out by the 7th Armoured Briga ...
captured by the time a second truce took effect at 19:00 18 July, the whole Lower Galilee from Haifa Bay to the Sea of Galilee was captured by Israel opening further supply lines to the settlements in the northern Jordan valley. Throughout the entire war, Jordanian Arab Legion forces as well as Iraqi military forces crossed the Jordan valley to support the Arab effort in the central sector, the current West Bank. From the beginning of the second truce on 18 July 1948 and until the end of hostilities with Jordan on 3 April 1949 and Syria on 20 July 1949 there were no further major military operations around the Jordan Valley, and contact lines remained static in this area. Unlike other areas, at the end of hostilities Israel controlled roughly the same territory of the Jordan Valley that it was allotted in the partition plan. Some Jewish settlements in the Jordanian controlled Jordan Valley were abandoned, while significantly more Arab residents fled mixed cities and Arab settlements as part of the
1948 Palestinian exodus In 1948 more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs – about half of prewar Palestine's Arab population – were expelled or fled from their homes, during the 1948 Palestine war. The exodus was a central component of the fracturing, dispossessi ...
. In the aftermath of the war, a Palestinian Arab state was not formed in the West Bank, and the Jordanians retained control of both sides of the Jordan Valley along the West Bank – Jordan border due to the Jordanian occupation and annexation of the West Bank.


Water wars 1953–1967

The
Jordan Valley Unified Water Plan The Jordan Valley Unified Water Plan, commonly known as the "Johnston Plan", was a plan for the unified water resource development of the Jordan Valley. It was negotiated and developed by US ambassador Eric Johnston between 1953 and 1955, and ...
, commonly known as the "Johnston Plan", was a plan for the unified
water resource Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slightl ...
development of the Jordan Valley. It was negotiated and developed by US ambassador
Eric Johnston Eric Allen Johnston (December 21, 1896 – August 22, 1963) was a business owner, president of the United States Chamber of Commerce, a Republican Party activist, president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and a U.S. governme ...
between 1953 and 1955, and based on an earlier plan commissioned by
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians displaced by the 1948 P ...
(UNRWA). Modeled upon the
Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...
's engineered development plan, it was approved by technical water committees of all the regional
riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...
countries—Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.The UNRWA commissioned a plan for the development of the Jordan River; this became widely known as "The Johnston plan". The plan was modelled on the
Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...
development plan for the development of the Jordan River as a single unit. Greg Shapland, (1997
''Rivers of Discord: International Water Disputes in the Middle East''
C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, p 14
Though the plan was rejected by the Arab League, both Israel and Jordan undertook to abide by their allocations under the plan. The US provided funding for Israel's
National Water Carrier National Water Carrier of Israel The National Water Carrier of Israel ( he, המוביל הארצי, ''HaMovil HaArtzi'') is the largest water project in Israel, completed in 1964. Its main purpose is to transfer water from the Sea of Galilee ...
after receiving assurances from Israel that it would continue to abide by the plan's allocations. Similar funding was provided for Jordan's East Ghor Main Canal project after similar assurances were obtained from Jordan. The Israeli
National Water Carrier of Israel National Water Carrier of Israel The National Water Carrier of Israel ( he, המוביל הארצי, ''HaMovil HaArtzi'') is the largest water project in Israel, completed in 1964. Its main purpose is to transfer water from the Sea of Galilee ...
was completed in 1964, and coupled with increased closing of Degania Dam, greatly decreased the flow of water from the Sea of Galilee down to Jordan Valley. The Jordanian East Ghor Main Canal was completed in stages between 1961 and 1966, and likewise diverts a significant amount of water from the Jordan river. While providing benefits elsewhere by utilization of fresh water, the combined result of both of these projects and subsequent management and usage, was to greatly reduce the flow of water through the Jordan valley. The flow rate of the Jordan River once was 1.3 billion cubic meters per year; as of 2010, just 20 to 30 million cubic metres per year flow into the Dead Sea. The Arab League which objected to Israeli National Water Carrier approved in 1964 the
Headwater Diversion Plan (Jordan River) The Headwater Diversion Plan was an Arab League plan to divert two of the three sources of the Jordan River, and prevent them from flowing into the Sea of Galilee, in order to thwart Israel's plans to use the water of the Hasbani and Banias i ...
which would have diverted two of the three sources of the Jordan river. Israel's destruction, via airstrikes, of the diversion project in April 1967 was one of the events leading to the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...
.


Six-Day War

Following commencement of hostilities of the Six-Day War on 5 June 1967, initial hostilities between Israel and Jordan were mainly around the line of contact between Israel and Jordan and around
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
in particular. Following heavy fighting in Jerusalem, the city was captured on 7 June. The Israeli Harel Brigade advanced on the Jordan Valley and Israeli
sappers A sapper, also called a pioneer or combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing fie ...
blew up sections of the
Allenby Bridge The Allenby Bridge (English name; he, גשר אלנבי ''Gesher Allenby''), known officially in Jordan as the King Hussein Bridge ( ar, جسر الملك حسين ''Jisr al-Malek Hussein''), and also called Al-Karameh Bridge by Palestinian Arab ...
and King Abdullah Bridge in the south of the valley, and forces 36th Division blew up
Damia Bridge Jisr ed-Damiye ( ar, جسر الدامية , Jisr ed-Damieh, Bridge of ed-Damieh), known in English as Damiyah Bridge, as Prince Muhammad Bridge in Jordan, and as Gesher Adam ( he, גשר אדם, , Adam Bridge) in Israel, stretches over the Jorda ...
located in the middle of the valley. As it became clear that the Jordanian position, from the get-go a salient with limited supply routes from the other side of the Jordan river, was collapsing due to lack of suitable supply and reinforcement routes most of the remaining Jordanian units able to retreat did so, crossing the Jordan river to Jordan proper and the remaining West Bank cities were captured with little resistance by the Israelis. These retreating units, as well as two brigades that were held in reserve in the Jordan Valley, formed defensive positions on the Jordanian side of the Jordan valley and deeper in Jordanian territory. The Jordanian valley features, namely the river and the high and steep escarpments contributed to the strength of this position. Coupled with Israeli reluctance to cross the 1948 British Mandate border in this sector, American diplomatic pressure, and needs on additional fronts the war ended with the sides opposing one another across the Jordan Valley.


1967 Palestinian exodus

During and following the Six-Day War, many Palestinians, who at the time had Jordanian citizenship, fled the West Bank to Jordan due to choice, fear, and in some cases being forced to do so. In the Jordan valley the majority of the inhabitants of
Aqabat Jaber Aqabat Jaber ( ar, مخيّم عقبة جبر) is a Palestinian refugee camp in the Jericho Governorate of the eastern West Bank, situated in the Jordan Valley, three kilometers southwest of Jericho. History Aqabat Jaber was established in 19 ...
Aqabat Jabr
UNRWA The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. UNRWA's mandate encompasses Palestinians displaced by the 1948 ...
1 March 2005.
(30,000) and Ein as-Sultan (20,000)
refugee camps A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peop ...
fled. In
al-Jiftlik Al-Jiftlik ( ar, الجفتلك) is a Palestinian village in the Jericho Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the West Bank, located 33 kilometers north of Jericho. Al Jiftlik is bordered by the Jordan River to the east. Nearby Palestinian l ...
over 800 homes were razed by the Israeli army and its 6,000 inhabitants were ordered to leave; most, however, returned to the village. The population of the Jordan Valley fled in disproportionate numbers compared to the rest of the West Bank. According to some estimates, the population of the Jericho sub-district which is in the Jordan Valley area decreased from around 79,407 in May 1967 to 10,800 in the September 1967 census or 83% compared to an estimate of 850,343 to 661,757 or 23% for the entire West Bank.


Jordan: conflict with PLO and Black September 1967–1971

The proportion of Palestinians in Jordan of the total Jordanian was always high, and the 1967 refugees further increased their number. After the Six-Day War in 1967, the PLO and Fatah stepped up their guerrilla attacks against Israel from Jordanian soil, using the Jordan Valley town of
Karameh Al-Karameh ( ar, الكرامة), or simply Karameh, is a town in west-central Jordan, near the Allenby Bridge which spans the Jordan River. Karameh sits on the eastern bank of the river, along the border between Jordan, Israel, as well as the Isr ...
as their headquarters. The Israeli army attacked this base in March 1968 in the
Battle of Karameh The Battle of Karameh ( ar, معركة الكرامة) was a 15-hour military engagement between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and combined forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF) in the Jor ...
which ended in the destruction of the PLO base, deaths on both sides, destruction of property, and an Israeli withdrawal. In Palestinian enclaves and refugee camps in Jordan, the Jordanian Police and army were losing their authority. Uniformed PLO militants openly carried weapons, set up checkpoints, and attempted to extort "taxes". During the November 1968 negotiations, a seven-point agreement was reached between King Hussein and Palestinian organizations. This agreement, however, was not adhered to, and clashes grew between the Jordanian army and Palestinian militants. In February 1970 fighting broke out in Amman resulting in approximately 300 deaths. Between February and June 1970, about a thousand people died in Jordan due to the conflict. In September 1970; following failed assassination attempts of the king, and the
Dawson's Field hijackings In September 1970, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked four airliners bound for New York City and one for London. Three aircraft were forced to land at Dawson's Field, a remote desert airstrip near Zarqa ...
in which 4 planes were hijacked and landed at a desert airstrip in Jordan; the Jordanian king ordered the army to attack and expel Palestinian militants, and declared
martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...
. Syria attempted to aid the Palestinian cause in Jordan by sending significant military forces across the border, though nominally under the
Palestine Liberation Army The Palestine Liberation Army (PLA, ar, جيش التحرير الفلسطيني, ''Jaysh at-Tahrir al-Filastini'') is ostensibly the military wing of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), set up at the 1964 Arab League summit held in A ...
command, which were repulsed after some initial successes as a result of Jordanian air force strikes. After a protracted campaign, lasting 10 months, and claiming more than 3,400 Palestinian deaths the king reasserted Jordanian sovereignty.
Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
and remaining fighters fled to
Southern Lebanon Southern Lebanon () is the area of Lebanon comprising the South Governorate and the Nabatiye Governorate. The two entities were divided from the same province in the early 1990s. The Rashaya and Western Beqaa Districts, the southernmost distri ...
. The effect of Black September on the Jordanian Jordan Valley population was severe as the valley had a relatively high fraction of Palestinian population and PLO bases and fighters. According to some estimates, half the buildings in the Jordanian side of the Jordan Valley were razed and the population decreased from 63,000 to 5,000.


1973 Yom Kippur War

Even though Jordan was Western aligned, and was invaded by Syrian forces just three years prior, the Jordanian government decided to intervene in the 1973 conflict a week after the beginning of hostilities, sending an armoured division as an Expeditionary Force to southern Syria to aid in the defense of Damascus. However, declassified documents show this was a token participation to preserve King Hussein's status in the Arab world, and that some tacit understandings were made with Israel. The Israeli-Jordanian contact line, the main portion being the Jordanian valley, remained quiet during the war. Israel and Jordan did however deploy units in a defensive posture on each side of the Jordan valley.


Post-1967 Israeli settlements and long-term views of the Jordan Valley

Since the end of the 1967 war, many Israeli governments have treated the western Jordan Valley as the ''eastern border'' of Israel with Jordan, intending to annex it or keep deployment of Israeli forces in the valley. An early example of this view was the
Allon Plan The Allon Plan ( he, תוכנית אלון) was a plan to partition the West Bank between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, create a Druze state in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and return most of the Sinai Peninsula to Arab con ...
formulated in 1967–1968. This Israeli position (which has also been held by the
Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...
government that signed the Oslo Accords) stems from the narrowness of the
Israeli coastal plain Israeli coastal plain ( he, מישור החוף, ''Mishor HaḤof'') is the coastal plain along Israel's Mediterranean Sea coast, extending north to south. It is a geographical region defined morphologically by the sea, in terms of topography a ...
, the geographic defensive barrier created by the Jordan valley, and the demographic realities (lack of a significant Arab population in the valley that would impact the overall demographics of Israel). Israel has constructed settlements in the West bank portion of the Jordan valley in three main phases: # 1967–1970: construction of five settlements along highway 90 which runs through the valley. # 1971–1974: construction of six settlements to the west of the road. # 1975–1999: construction of 18 additional settlements, which further reinforces the two settlement lines in the previous phases. Two of the settlements,
Kalya Kalya ( he, קַלְיָה) is an Israeli settlement organized as a kibbutz in the West Bank. It was originally established in 1929 but was occupied and destroyed by the Jordanians in 1948; it was later rebuilt in 1968 after the Six-Day War. L ...
and
Beit HaArava Beit HaArava ( he, בֵּית הָעֲרָבָה, lit. ''House of the Arabah, Arava'') is an Israeli settlement and kibbutz in the West Bank. Located near the Dead Sea and Jericho at the eponymous Beit HaArava Junction, the intersection of Highwa ...
, were reestablished on the sites of settlements that were evacuated in the beginning of the 1948 war. Concurrently, as it has done elsewhere, Israel has sought to settle migrant Bedouin pastoral communities, who roamed the arid plateau above the valley without regard to land ownership, into permanent communities particularly around the Jericho area. Israel has also enforced zoning rules, building permit requirements, natural reserves, and military firing zones in the territory which has restricted Arab development.


Oslo accords

Jericho, and the surrounding area in the southern valley, along with Gaza was the first territory handed over to the
Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,
, as a result of the
Gaza–Jericho Agreement The Gaza–Jericho Agreement, officially called Agreement on the Gaza Strip and the Jericho Area, was a follow-up treaty to the Oslo I Accord in which details of Palestinian autonomy were concluded. The agreement is commonly known as the 1994 Cairo ...
in 1994. Jericho, which is disconnected from the rest of the West Bank, and is far from the Israeli hinterland, was viewed as a suitable location for nascent Palestinian self-rule. Subsequent agreements, in the Oslo Accords, handed over additional West Bank territories, however Israel has retained control as Area C administered by Israel, with the exception of an
Area A Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an op ...
enclave surrounding Jericho and very small Area B zones around some small Palestinian settlements. In 1998, a $150 million casino-hotel was built in Jericho with the backing of Yasser Arafat. The casino closed subsequently during the Second Intifada.


1994 Israeli-Jordanian peace agreement

In 1994, following the initial Oslo accords, Israel and Jordan signed a
peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring ...
. The agreement made minor land adjustments, in relation to existing
ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
lines, to reflect both the shifting river course and historical claims, and also settled on-going water disputed and instituted a water sharing agreement. The treaty defines the international border between the countries on the Jordan and
Yarmouk River The Yarmuk River ( ar, نهر اليرموك, translit=Nahr al-Yarmūk, ; Greek: Ἱερομύκης, ; la, Hieromyces or ''Heromicas''; sometimes spelled Yarmouk), is the largest tributary of the Jordan River. It runs in Jordan, Syria and Israel ...
s in the center of those two river courses. In regard to the West Bank, Annex I (a) provides that "This line is the administrative boundary between Jordan and the territory which came under Israeli military government control in 1967. Any treatment of this line shall be without prejudice to the status of the territory."''Annex I''
jewishvirtuallibrary


1997 Island of Peace massacre

The site of the former Naharayim power plant was dubbed
Island of Peace The Island of Peace, or Al-Baqoura as it is known in Jordan, is an area in northern Jordan bordering the Jordan River. The park is at the confluence of the Jordan River and Yarmouk River.
, with Israeli private land ownership and property rights, but Jordanian sovereignty. On 13 March 1997, a visiting group of schoolgirls was attacked by
Jordanian Army The Royal Jordanian Army (Arabic: القوّات البرية الاردنيّة; ) is the Army, ground force branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF). It draws its origins from units such as the Arab Legion, formed in the Emirate of Transjord ...
Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...
Ahmed Daqamseh, who stated that he attacked because he was insulted and angered that the girls were whistling and clapping while he was praying. He killed seven schoolgirls, and injured six others. On 16 March 1997, a few days after the attack,
King Hussein Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family o ...
of Jordan personally apologized for the incident, traveling to Israel to visit and pay respects to the grieving families of the seven murdered girls during the traditional Jewish mourning ceremony known as ''
shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
''. King Hussein's visit to the parents of the victims was broadcast live in Israel and Jordan. During the visit, in which King Hussein stood alongside
Israeli Prime Minister The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exe ...
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
, he expressed an apology on behalf of the
Kingdom of Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan River ...
telling the parents: "a crime that is a shame for all of us. I feel as if I have lost a child of my own. If there is any purpose in life it will be to make sure that all the children no longer suffer the way our generation did." The perpetrator, however, was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder by a Jordanian medical team. Therefore, a five-member military tribunal sentenced him to only 20 years in prison. Daqamseh expressed pride for his actions, and he was later called a "hero" by Jordanian politician Hussein Mjalli. A petition circulated in the
Jordanian parliament The Parliament of Jordan ( ar, مجلس الأمة ') is the bicameral Jordanian national assembly. Established by the 1952 Constitution, the legislature consists of two houses: the Senate ( ar, مجلس الأعيان ''Majlis Al-Aayan'') ...
in 2013 in which MPs alleged that he had finished his sentence.Ammonnews (4 April 2013). House majority call for release of ex-Jordanian soldier. Ammon News, 4 April 2013. Retrieved from http://en.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNO=20576. He was released on 12 March 2017 after he finished his sentence.


2000–2006 Second Intifada

Despite some clashes in the Jericho area during the Second Intifada, it was not a major area of operations by either side. The Jericho casino was shut shortly after the beginning of the Intifada, and has not since returned to business.Abu Toameh, Khaled (19 February 2006). HAMAS TO BAR JERICHO CASINO REOPENING. Jerusalem Post, 19 February 2006. Retrieved from http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Hamas-to-bar-Jericho-casino-reopening. On 14 March 2006, Israel raided the Palestinian jail in Jericho as part of
Operation Bringing Home the Goods Operation Bringing Home the Goods ( he, מבצע הבאת ביכורים, ''Mivtza Hava'at Bikurim'') was a raid launched by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on March 14, 2006, on a Palestinian prison in Jericho. The prison held several prisoners ...
to capture the killers of Israeli minister Rehavam Ze'evi who were jailed there, following the announcement of the
Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam ...
elected government that the prisoners would be released and the leaving of international wardens who were monitoring the incarceration. The prisoners put up a fight, and after a ten-hour siege, the prisoners surrendered and were arrested. A series of riots and kidnapping of foreigners ensued throughout the
Palestinian territories The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The ...
. Reports from the scene said 50 jeeps, three tanks, and an armored bulldozer pushed into Jericho, and two helicopters were flying overhead.


Future of the West Bank portion of the Jordan Valley

Following the end of the Second Intifada, the Palestinian government has attempted to gain control over additional areas and in particular the area C section of the Jordan valley and the north Dead Sea. The long-standing Palestinian view is and has been that the entire West Bank, including the Jordan Valley, should be Palestinian. Israeli enforcement of zoning rules, building permits, natural reserves, and firing zones in the Jordan valley, the adjoining area east of
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
, the south Hebron hills and elsewhere, have become an issue covered by activists and human-rights organizations.
B'Tselem B'Tselem ( he, בצלם, , " in the image of od) is a Jerusalem-based non-profit organization whose stated goals are to document human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, combat any denial of the existence of su ...
sees the actions by the Israeli government as a part of a policy aimed at de facto annexing the Jordan Valley. The Bedouin, who erect structures illegally per the Israeli view, have received material aid from the
Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...
, the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
, and the UN OCHA. Some settler groups have claimed that the EU's ambassador is working to "establish a terror state", with housing aid to Bedouin along strategic routes. On 10 September 2019, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said that the government would annex the Jordan Valley by applying "Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea" should he continue being Prime Minister after the
September 2019 Israeli legislative election Snap legislative elections were held in Israel on 17 September 2019 to elect the 120 members of the 22nd Knesset. Following the previous elections in April, incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition for a ...
.


The Israeli Jordan Valley Regional Council

In the context of pre-state Zionist and later Israeli settlement, "Jordan Valley" means the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee and the first kilometres of the valley towards
Beit She'an Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is be ...
. In the late 1930s, the kibbutzim in the Jordan Valley formed the Council of the Gush, a regional municipal framework responsible for liaison with the authorities of the British Mandate. In the 1940s, this economic, cultural, and security cooperation between the kibbutzim continued, and a regional school system was established. In 1949, the Jordan Valley Regional Council was formed, becoming the model for regional councils throughout Israel. It is called
Emek HaYarden Regional Council Emek HaYarden Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית עמק הירדן, ''Mo'atza Azorit 'Emeq HaYarden'', ''lit.'' Jordan Valley Regional Council) is a regional council comprising much of the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, the southe ...
, and is different from the
Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council Bik'at HaYarden Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית בקעת הירדן, ''Mo'atza Azorit Bik'at HaYarden'', ''lit.'' Jordan Valley Regional Council), also Aravot HaYarden (''lit.'' Jordan Plains) is a regional council covering 21 Isra ...
(same translation), which consists of Israeli settlements built after 1967. The Bik'at HaYarden settlements are located in the West Bank between the pre-1967 borders and Jericho in the south. Settlements near the Dead Sea are part of the
Megilot Regional Council Megilot Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית מגילות, ''Mo'atza Azorit Megilot''), also Megilot Dead Sea Regional Council, is a regional council in the Judean Desert of the West Bank, near the western shores of the Dead Sea. It cov ...
.


Agriculture

The Jordan Valley is several degrees warmer than adjacent areas, and its year-round agricultural climate, fertile soils and water supply made it a site for agriculture dating to about 10,000 years ago. By about 3000 BCE, produce from the valley was being exported to neighboring regions. The area's fertile lands were chronicled in the Old Testament. Modern methods of farming have vastly expanded the agricultural output of the area. The construction of the East Ghor Canal by Jordan in the 1950s (now known as the King Abdullah Canal), which runs down the east bank of the Jordan Valley for 69 kilometers, has brought new areas under irrigation. The introduction of portable greenhouses has brought about a sevenfold increase in productivity, allowing Jordan to export large amounts of fruit and vegetables year-round. According to
Gideon Levy Gideon Levy ( he, גדעון לוי; born 2 June 1953) is an Israeli journalist and author. Levy writes opinion pieces and a weekly column for the newspaper '' Haaretz'' that often focus on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories ...
, authorities do not allow many Palestinian herding and agricultural communities access to the water or electricity grids, and tear down olive groves, donated solar panels, access roads to fields and waterlines which lack an Israeli warrant. Often the reason given concerns the 'protection of antiquities'. According to agricultural consultant Samir Muaddi, the Civil Administration helps Palestinian farmers and the Palestinian agriculture ministry market their produce in Israel and ensure its quality. Seminars are held on modern agriculture, exposing the farmers to Israeli and international innovations. The Jordan River rises from several sources, mainly the
Anti-Lebanon Mountains The Anti-Lebanon Mountains ( ar, جبال لبنان الشرقية, Jibāl Lubnān ash-Sharqiyyah, Eastern Mountains of Lebanon; Lebanese Arabic: , , "Eastern Mountains") are a southwest–northeast-trending mountain range that forms most of t ...
in Syria. It flows down into the Sea of Galilee, 212 meters below sea level, and then drains into the Dead Sea. South of the Dead Sea, the Jordan Valley turns into the hot, dry
Arabah The Arabah, Araba or Aravah ( he, הָעֲרָבָה, ''hāʿĂrāḇā''; ar, وادي عربة, ''Wādī ʿAraba''; lit. "desolate and dry area") is a loosely defined geographic area south of the Dead Sea basin, which forms part of the bord ...
valley.


Religious significance

The area's fertile lands were chronicled in the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
, led by Joshua, to
cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
its riverbed at Gilgal, which went dry as soon as the Ark of the Covenant reached the shore ().
Yom HaAliyah Yom HaAliyah, or Aliyah Day ( he, יום העלייה), is an Israeli national holiday celebrated annually according to the Jewish calendar on the tenth of the Hebrew month of Nisan to commemorate the Jewish people entering the Land of Israel as ...
(Aliyah Day, he, יום העלייה) is an Israeli national holiday celebrated annually on the tenth of the
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
month of Nisan to commemorate the Israelites crossing the Jordan River into the Land of Israel while carrying the Ark of the Covenant. The Jordan River is revered by
Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
as the place where
John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
baptized Jesus.


Pilgrimage and tourism

Jesus' traditional baptism site has attracted pilgrims throughout history. During the last four decades pilgrimage facilities have been created at three different sites. With
Al Maghtas Al-Maghtas ( ar, المغطس, meaning "baptism" or "immersion"), officially known as Baptism Site "Bethany Beyond the Jordan", is an archaeological World Heritage site in Jordan, on the east bank of the Jordan River, considered to be the orig ...
Jordan has the historically oldest site, with archaeological finds from the earliest periods of Christian worship. Across the river, on the West Bank side,
Qasr el Yahud Qasr al-Yahud (Arabic: , lit. "The tower of the Jews", Hebrew: ), also known as Al-Maghtas, is the western section of the traditional site of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist on the Jordan River (). It has also been traditionally identifi ...
has its own medieval traditions. Both sites were off-limits between 1967 and the 2000s, first due to the conflict between Israel and Jordan and then due to the Palestinian
First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
and Second Intifadas, but have been reopened in 2000 and 2010–2011 respectively. A new alternative site was opened in 1981 further up north on the Israeli side, at Yardenit.


See also

*
Ancient underground quarry, Jordan Valley An ancient underground quarry in the Jordan Valley was discovered in 2009 by University of Haifa archeologists.
, possibly associated by the Byzantines with Gilgal and the "twelve stones" *
Gilgal Gilgal ( he, גִּלְגָּל ''Gilgāl''), also known as Galgala or Galgalatokai of the 12 Stones ( grc-gre, Γαλαγα or , ''Dōdekalithōn''), is the name of one or more places in the Hebrew Bible. Gilgal is mentioned 39 times, in particula ...
, site in the Jordan Valley mentioned in the Hebrew Bible * Jericho, modern and ancient town in the Jordan Valley


References


External links


Photos of Jordan Valley
at the American Center of Research {{Authority control . Dead Sea Geography of Palestine (region) Great Rift Valley Landforms of Jordan Landforms of the Middle East Valleys of the State of Palestine Valleys of the West Bank Landforms of Western Asia Levant Regions of Israel Valleys of Asia Valleys of Israel Important Bird Areas of Jordan Important Bird Areas of Israel