Israel uproots West Bank fruit trees to make way for settlement

Israeli bulldozers razed the land of the Alian family in the village of Beit Safafa today ahead of plans to build new settlement structures on the land, Maan reported.

The family explained that the bulldozers were accompanied by occupation forces who stormed the family’s land and began uprooting trees, in preparation for construction work on the site.

Members of the Alian family confronted the occupation forces and one of its members, Ahmed Alian, was injured during the confrontations, while police summoned members of the family and the municipality to hear their claims.

The family has been suffering for several years from numerous attempts to take over control of their hand under various pretexts as occupation authorities try to implement the Givat Hamotzi settlement plan. Earlier this year occupation authorities confiscated a large swathe of ​​the family’s land and built a pavement over it. Dozens of fruit trees were uprooted to make way for the street.

The Alian family owns 25 dunams (2.5 hectares) of land and have all the papers and land registry documents to prove ownership. However, Israeli occupation authorities redivided the land without the family’s knowledge and handed seven dunams (0.7 hectares) to another site.

In spite of their numerous attempts to get the Israeli courts to stop settlement expansion on their land, their objections have been rejected. However, stop work orders were issued, but these have been ignored by occupation forces who are continuing work to excavate and build a road in the area.

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