Panic Along the Seam Line: Arabs Seen Climbing Over Security Fence | WATCH

Israel’s seam line communities in the Hefer Valley look like the kind of place that belongs on a brochure: quiet streets, neat private homes, green fields, big playgrounds, people jogging in winter drizzle like nothing in the world is wrong. And that’s exactly the problem. Since October 7, residents say the normal scenery now feels like camouflage for a vulnerability they can’t unsee.

That anxiety spiked again after Friday’s deadly combined terror attack in the Ein Harod area, where two people were killed, and after new footage showed Palestinian illegal entrants (shabachim) crossing the security fence into Israel near Jerusalem, from the same area the attacker allegedly infiltrated before making his way north. For communities sitting right on the barrier, the message is not subtle: if someone can get in there, someone can get in here.

In Bat Hefer, one of the largest towns along the seam line, the physical reality is stark. The nearest homes sit roughly 300 meters from houses in the Palestinian village of Shuweika, near Tulkarm. Between them are agricultural fields and open space that, in ordinary times, is just countryside. In this climate, it’s an approach route.

Residents describe living with a constant background hum of fear, intensified by gunfire sounds from across the fence and by the memory of October 7. Avi, a Bat Hefer resident, said the sense of vulnerability is now permanent: it’s “just like Oct. 7,” he explained, adding that people are trying to trust the IDF patrols and the local rapid-response teams while hoping the area doesn’t face another breach.

That trust is being tested by the scale of the phenomenon. A report published Sunday said tens of thousands of Palestinians without permits are currently inside Israel, tied to a long-running policy that began around two decades ago, after the Second Intifada and the completion of major sections of the security barrier. The logic has always been economic: in the Palestinian Authority areas, monthly wages can hover around ₪1,200–₪1,500, while in Israel workers can earn six to seven times that. The practice has been tolerated, critics argue, through years of “looking the other way” across multiple levels of command. Then, every year or two, after attacks linked to fence breaches, there are enforcement operations that detain infiltrators, many of them laborers looking for work. The fence remains breached. Everyone repeats the same surprised face. Humanity continues its proud tradition of not learning.

In the newer neighborhoods, residents like Shira, preparing to move into newly purchased homes, describe living with the cognitive dissonance: building a future in a place that feels increasingly exposed. She said the fear is real, especially when hearing shooting from the other side, but that residents feel they have no choice except to stay alert and rely on the security forces and local teams.

Others are more blunt. Near the neighboring kibbutz of Bachan, Aharon warned that the fence is clearly “not completely secure.” In his view, what looks like “civilian” infiltration can be exploited easily for terrorism: someone jumps the barrier, gets picked up on the Israeli side for a few hundred shekels, and disappears into the country.

Local leadership is now pushing for structural changes, not just more patrols. Hefer Valley Regional Council head Galit Shaul said the current situation is “far from satisfactory,” emphasizing the need for permanent reinforcement of forces along the seam line, better staffing for local command centers to speed up alerts, and, crucially, the establishment of a buffer zone beyond the barrier to prevent any approach to the communities.

Rafi Saar, mayor of Kfar Saba and chair of the Seam Line Authorities Forum, echoed the warning: repeated breaches and near-daily illegal crossings risk turning the Sharon seam line into a strategic weak point. Even when infiltrations appear economic, he argued, they can become intelligence-gathering runs or rehearsal for attacks.

The core demand from residents and local officials is simple: treat the seam line like a front line, not an inconvenience. Because “pastoral” is a nice aesthetic, but it’s a terrible security doctrine.