Tag: Land confiscation

West Bank: record amount of land stolen by Israel. More acres annexed since Oct. 7 than in 30 years

Beit Lid – North West Bank

“Since October 7, while all eyes are on Gaza where they are destroying everything, the Israelis have seized the highest number of dunams ever here in the West Bank. “In one year they declared more hectares as ‘Israeli land’ than they had ever declared in the past 30 years,” says R., looking at the new outpost rising in front of us in Beit Lid. “If Western states continue to fund and legitimize Israel, maybe they really will try to annex the whole West Bank.” He shakes his head. “In addition to the land they take, you have to count all the roads they block, and the lands you no longer have access to because are close to the new Israeli settlements.” A demand, a silent shout that resonates ever more clearly from north to south in the West Bank, where Israel is waging a full-fledged war of annexation, consisting of record land seizures, destruction of Palestinian homes, and a flood of funds for illegal colonies already springing up on Palestinian land.

R.’s extended family welcomes us among the olive trees in the small village of 5,600 inhabitants located between Tulkarem and Nablus in the northern West Bank. They serve us tea first, then coffee, in the tradition of deep welcome typical of Palestinians. There are six farmers gathered to meet us. “There it is, you see? That is the new Abu Jamrah outpost, which will enlarge the Einav colony. They stole 30 dunams of land from us to build it.” In front of us, on the hill opposite, caravans and prefabs, a communications antenna, cars and vehicles. “Since October 7, the Israeli Authority has started expanding its settlements in the Palestinian territories. This is just one example. In recent months here in Tulkarem province alone they have built 4 more outposts: Qaffin, Shweikeh, Avni Hevets (shouffeh) and Jbara. They are taking more and more land, in everyone’s silence,” says R. Hundreds of meters as the crow flies from the outpost, in the middle of the vegetation, a large Israeli flag flies. “They want to go all the way there. As always, they have no right to it. That land belonged to my grandfather’s family.” In the area around Tulkarem, the Israelis are not even issuing agreements to access even a few days’ worth of land: it is a collective punishment for the entire population of the village, considered the “cradle” of resistance, they say. “This year they prevented us from harvesting about 2,000 olive trees,” R. says again, on behalf of everyone. A big blow to the already difficult family economies during this time of war. “The settlers even tried to steal our donkeys, but they couldn’t do it.”

The story of R.’s family is the story of now more and more Palestinians, who since Oct. 7 are experiencing even more harassment, violence, and land theft than since the beginning of the 1967 occupation.

According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Israel has confiscated 52,000 dunams in one year (1 dunams=1000 square meters, 1/10th of a hectare). This is a huge number, compounded by the new annexations declared in recent weeks. In fact, in a single day, Finance Minister Bazalel Smotrich announced the confiscation of 24,000 dunams declaring them “state lands.” This is the largest confiscation ever, covering more than half of the hectares Israel has taken since the Oslo Accords in 1993. Added to it are the 25,000 dunams that were confiscated under the pretext of changing the boundaries of nature reserves, plus the 1,233 dunams confiscated for “military purposes.” Israel’s “practice” of self-declared “state” lands had been discontinued in 1992, until Netanyhahu’s first government resurrected it in 1998. Since then, until Oct. 7, 2023, confiscations had been periodic until reaching the figure of 40 thousand dunams.

Instead, over the past 14 months, it seems that the government has been racing in grabbing as much land as possible. The goal is clear, and the various ministers in Tel Aviv have openly stated it: to create corridors between settlements, build new ones, annex the West Bank and thus fight attempts to build a Palestinian state. A goal Israel has always had, but it is experiencing an unprecedented acceleration. “2025 will be the year of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich wrote on X, using the name Israel gives to this part of Palestine. Ministers in Tel Aviv want to take advantage of Trump’s presidency, and perhaps the now clear international inaction, to carry out one of their plans for the creation of Greater Israel: the disappearance of the West Bank as such. Starting with the already announced divestment of the Civil Administration in the West Bank and the transfer of its powers directly into the hands of Israeli ministries.

According to the Israeli organization PeaceNow there are at least 43 new outposts built since October 7 throughout the region, and 5 new colonies. 70 outposts – illegal under Israeli law itself – legalized, plus 3 others that have been designated “neighborhoods” of nearby colonies. New settlements also legalized inside the city of Hebron. Settlement of the territory is also taking place thanks to the dozens of kilometers of roads to connect the settlements that have been approved, with funding of more than 7 billion shekels. About 450 million furthermore the shekels promised for “projects” in the settlements and outposts to encourage the arrival of new settlers.

While Palestinians are effectively prevented from building new homes, thanks in part to the definition of many lands as “military zones” or “nature reserves,” the Tel Aviv government has authorized the construction of 8,861 new housing units in the colonies. Simultaneously through settler and military violence, there are at least 277 Palestinian families (about 1630 individuals) and between 19 and 28 entire Bedouin communities that have been forced off their land. Threats, fires, theft of livestock, sabotage to livelihoods and violence of various kinds have indeed escalated in many areas of the West Bank (while this was already the norm in many areas even before Oct 7). Especially since Israel has given the settlers a green light and given them thousands of weapons, effectively promising impunity for their actions. There have been 16,663 attacks on Palestinian land and property since Oct. 7.

At least 900 homes have been demolished, not counting the hundreds and hundreds of homes destroyed in military raids on camps in Jenin, Tulkarem, Tubas and Nablus.
The West Bank is undergoing an unprecedented direct attack. On Dec. 15, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates also expressed deep concern over Israel’s recent escalation of unilateral and illegal actions in the occupied West Bank aimed at “intensifying and expanding ethnic cleansing and gradual annexation.” He called on the international community to implement its resolutions, particularly U.N. Security Council Resolution 2735 and the U.N. General Assembly decision adopting the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.
“Resolving the Palestinian issue and ending the occupation is the only way to achieve security, stability and prosperity for the region and the world,” he reiterated. In the hope that someone will act.

Report on Land Confiscations by the Israeli Army in Salfeet and Qalqilya Area

Israeli plan for the renewed confiscation of lands around Alei Zahav illegal settlement.

The Israeli Occupation Forces have recently announced a new sequence of land seizures in eleven villages in Salfeet (Salfit) District and three in the Qalqilya area of Occupied Palestine. The total amount of land being confiscated, for “military/security” reasons, is the equivalent of nearly one million square metres. 850,000 of this is for the compulsory renewal of notices of land confiscation that had already been issued, the rest is made up of new illegal acquisitions.

Plan for the renewed confiscation of lands around Ari’el illegal settlement.

Residents in the fourteen villages – which include Bruqeen, Iskaka, Deir Istiya and Zawiya – were given notice of the seizures within the last two weeks. They were allowed just seven days to register appeals with the Israeli court. Many were unable to do so within the tight deadline, which required producing notarised copies of land title deeds, and the additional expense of hiring a lawyer to represent them. Based on bitter past experience the majority of residents, however, chose not to register appeals, as the Israeli courts have proven themselves to be completely unwilling previously to overturn any order raised by the military that cite ‘security concerns’.

A view of Marda village, overwhelmed by the Ari’el illegal settlement.

Despite some appeals having been lodged with the court, the Israeli Army has nonetheless continued to occupy the confiscated land in question, and erected fences and other barriers on the disputed new land. Residents can now only gain access to tend crops or pick olives if they apply to the Israeli Army for a permit to enter their own land. This still means they have to pass through checkpoints and face humiliating delays, ID checks, bag searches and body searches.

Israeli military destroys agricultural lands in Gaza

3rd of March 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Gaza Strip, occupied Palestine

At around 9am on Thursday, the 31st March, four Israeli bulldozers entered the Gaza Strip at El Fakhuri. They came in order to destroy agricultural lands located near the border, once again violating the indefinite truce that ended the 2014 Israeli aggression against Gaza.

Meanwhile more than thirty tanks were located along the fence line, pointing at the Palestinian farmers who kept working on their lands despite the great risk that they face doing so.

In less than a month the wheat harvest season will start. The families who own land near the border don’t know what will happen then, as no one seems to do anything to stop the systematic aggression. The wheat harvest is vital for the families ability to feed their children.

Olive tree planting connects Palestinians in the Jordan Valley

2nd April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Jordan Valley, Occupied Palestine

On Saturday 2nd April, Palestinians and international activists alike worked together in solidarity to plant olive trees in the town of al-Bikaa in the Jordan Valley, the town falls under area C of the occupied territories. The act of planting the trees today was symbolic and had several meanings behind the days actions.

In November, 2015, the occupying Israeli forces confiscated a field of land from the native Palestinians and used it to plant grape vines, fruits that often end up on the tables of naive western countries who’s citizens have very little idea of the vegetation’s origin and the ongoing struggle for Palestinians that is created from these malicious land confiscations.

A man in the new field with the Israeli field behind him

The primary agenda behind the tree planting today was to strategically plant the olive trees in a freshly ploughed and fertilised field to the right of where the Israeli government has planted their grape vines. There is hope amongst the Palestinians that if the fields are being utilised then the occupying forces will not confiscate the land.

It was the first activity organised by the popular union to protect the Jordan Valley. It was a symbolic and momentous day as previously, each village throughout the regions of Nablus, Tubas and Jericho have each had their own governing bodies. There have been more than twenty five unions in the past and this has brought them all together under one new body.

Young children playing whilst helping in the planting of the olive trees

The Palestinians of the Jordan Valley face an ongoing struggle against the occupying forces from malicious land confiscations, the constant threat of home demolitions, the struggle to attain building permits along with limited water and electrical supplies to Palestinian local farmers (illegal Israeli settlers have unlimited water and electricity at their disposal). Despite all of this the Palestinian people remain defiant, resilient and will stand together in solidarity in hope for a brightful future of their rightful lands.

Home demolition in Jerusalem: “They want our land. We need help to protect it.”

1st April 2015 | Jerusalem, Occupied Palestine

Nureddin Amro and his brother Sharif Amro and their families were awakened at 5:30 am by over a hundred Israeli soldiers who came to demolish their home in the Wadi Al-Joz neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday, March 31, 2015. Both men are blind. The brothers live with their ill 79-year-old mother, their spouses and children. Nureddin has three young children, Sharif has four; all are under 14. Israeli soldiers pointed their guns in through the windows of the house while the children were still asleep and cut the electricity and phone lines to the house.

“We were asleep. They banged on the doors and shouted. Soldiers completely surrounded the neighborhood. There were dogs and aircraft. It was frightening,” said Nureddin. “There was no advanced notice. No reason given. They announced that they came to demolish the house and they started doing it while we were still inside.”

Amro Wadi Joz wm — The Amro family stands in the rubble of their demolished home

Nureddin asked for time to go to court or the municipality for an explanation, but the soldiers refused. The soldiers assaulted the family, kicking Sharif and beating everyone, including the women and children. “They attacked us and locked us in one of the rooms. My son and brother were injured. They stayed for four hours and destroyed four rooms, the garden. They would not give us time to take anything from the rooms. All of our things, the children’s pets, their rabbits and chickens were killed under the rubble” Sharif was taken to the hospital after a soldier kicked the blind man hard in the ankle. Israeli forces refused to even let the family salvage their belongings before they tore it down.

Amro famil wmy — Members of the Amro family gathered beside the part of their home that is still standing

Nurredin is the founder and principal of the Siraj al-Quds School for visually impaired and sighted children in Jerusalem. He is a Synergos Institute Social Innovator and was recognized by the British Council for his leadership working for positive change and social development for people with special needs. According to Nureddin, there was no demolition order against the homes although there have been demolitions in the neighborhood before. They had received warnings a couple of months ago to clean up scrap wood, wires and materials that were around the house, and they did the cleaning as required.

While they were demolishing the rooms of the Amro family’s home Israeli forces destroyed a fence on the neighboring Totah family’s land, along with a shelter that housed a horse, chickens, and a dog. Soldiers also cut the family’s internet and broke the water line. The father of the Totah family was beaten, handcuffed, and arrested; he was later released.

Totah family land wm — The Totah family’s land after Israeli forces destroyed a fence and a shelter for animals

As of this writing, the part of the house that remains standing where Nureddin and his brother are staying with their families; still has no electricity, water, sewage or telephone services. Soldiers returned to the family’s home again this morning, moving the rubble that was visible from the street and threatening that they would be back.

Amro children wm — The Amro family children climb on the rubble – all that is left of four of their rooms

Israeli authorities have already annexed land across from the Wadi Al-Joz neighborhood, creating a national park which encompasses an illegal Israeli settlement. Local residents reported, speaking of the constant threat of settlement expansion under the Israeli occupation, that “they want to get rid of all the houses, all the neighborhood. They want to put their hands on this land from here to the Old City.”