Israel confiscates 51,000 dunams of Palestinian land

Israel is confiscating 51,000 dunams of Palestinian land in the Jordan Valley, isolating five Bedouin villages and taking control of their water supplies and agricultural land, a Palestinian official told the Voice of Palestine radio yesterday.

Moataz Bisharat, who is in charge of the Jordan Valley file in the occupied West Bank province of Tubas, said the occupation’s policy is clear; separating the Jordan Valley from the rest of the villages in the area. He added that occupation authorities designated the areas “military zones” and stopped land owners from accessing their properties without permission from the occupation authorities.

He confirmed that these policies are aimed at displacing and expelling families within the framework of the occupation’s plan to seize the Jordan Valley and subsequently annex it.

The Jordan Valley comprises over a fifth of the territory of the West Bank and contains vital land reserves for the natural expansion of Palestinian towns and cities. It has abundant water resources – including one-third of the underground water reserves in the West Bank.

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