Israel settlers, forces fence off Palestinian land, seize farming equipment

Jewish settlers under the protection of Israeli forces build a wall of wire during their raid on the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem at the Silwan district in Jerusalem on December 26, 2022. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency]

Israeli settlers today fenced off a plot of land in the village of Khirbet As-Samra, based in the northern Jordan Valley, reported Wafa news agency.

Local residents told Wafa that the settlers barged into the village, where they installed barbed wire around a plot of land in preparation for seizing it and set up an illegal settlement outpost.

This comes despite the Palestinian landowners showing title deeds proving their ownership of the land.

All settlements, outposts and settlers are illegal under international law. Nevertheless, according to official data, around 650,000 extremist Israeli Jewish settlers live in more than 130 settlements that have been built on Palestinian land since the occupation of the West Bank started in 1967.

This came hours after Israeli occupation forces stormed the Palestinian hamlet of Khirbet Umm Al-Jamal, in the northern Jordan Valley, and seized farming equipment.

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According to Wafa, a large number of troops stormed the hamlet last night and seized equipment used for livestock farming, which belonged to Palestinian farmer, Adel Awad.

The UN and many international rights groups and bodies have condemned the violations, but the Israeli government has done nothing to stop the attacks.

The Jordan Valley is a fertile strip of land running along the west bank of the River Jordan. It is home to about 65,000 Palestinians, and makes up approximately 30 per cent of the total area of the occupied West Bank.

Israeli soldiers regularly shoot at and destroy agricultural land in the area causing considerable damage to crops and preventing farmers from working their fields. Moreover, occupation forces spray toxic substances to kill crops and force the farmers off their land.

Israel has occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem since 1967. Human rights abuses against Palestinians and breaches of international law are daily occurrences.

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