Israel blocks agricultural project funded by Norway

The Israeli occupation forces have blocked the preparatory work on an agricultural wells project funded by Norwegian People’s Aid in the occupied West Bank. The project was being implemented by the Union of Committees for Agricultural Work in the village of Al-Rahwa, south of Hebron.

The union told Quds Press that Israeli soldiers stormed the village and prevented the machines and workers from continuing their work on the project. The excuse given was that the work was being done in so-called Area C, occupied territory controlled both politically and in terms of security by Israel under the terms of the Oslo Accords. Officers pointed out that sixteen tents had been destroyed earlier in the year in the area on the pretext that “demolition orders” had been issued.

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According to the union, however, a nearby illegal settlement is being expanded at the expense of Palestinian land, and the latest disruption to the wells project is to try to displace the local population. It appealed to international and human rights organisations to intervene “to stop Israel’s ethnic cleansing policies and the repeated attacks on Palestinians by armed Jewish settlers”.