Israel Defence Forces take over Palestinian land across occupied West Bank

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have taken over privately-owned Palestinian land in three different areas across the occupied West Bank, Anadolu reported on Tuesday.

“An Israeli army bulldozer protected by troops raided a farm near the settlement of Halamesh,” explained a member of Deir Nizam municipality in Ramallah. “The soldiers erected a fence around more than an acre of land under the pretext of security,” added Monjed Al-Tamimi.

He believes that the Israeli occupation army is planning to confiscate the land. It is planted with olive trees, he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the occupation forces issued a military order to take over a plot of land in the town of Al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, confirmed the head of the anti-Settlement and Apartheid Wall commission in the city, Hassan Brijiyeh. The confiscated land is to be used to build gates leading to the illegal settlement outpost of Sidi Boaz built on Palestinian-owned land.

Brijiyeh warned that this decision will restrict Palestinian farmers’ access to their land and force them to obtain special permits to allow them to get to their fields.

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Moreover, Israeli settlers protected by security forces razed Palestinian-owned land and uprooted dozens of olive trees in the Hebron town of Tarqomiya, also in the occupied West Bank.

According to anti-settlement activist Mohammed Abu Dabbous, the Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement of Tellem bulldozed the land in Khilet Salameh, which belongs to the Ghareeb family, and uprooted around 50 olive trees. A road for use by settlers only is to be built on the land which has been razed, he added.

Israeli rights group B’Tselem confirms that the establishment of settlements in the occupied West Bank violates international humanitarian law, which establishes the principles applied during war and occupation. In fact, said the rights group, the settlements also lead to the infringement of international human rights law.