Below, Israel newspaper documents latest land theft in occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers and army. This has been going on for years. It’s a slow, meticulous form of war and ethnic cleansing.
US lawmakers: If you invite Netanyahu to address Congress, ask him about Israeli land seizure in the West Bank. Would you resist if settlers and the army of a foreign power were taking your land and livelihood?
“The de facto expulsion of Palestinian farmers and shepherds is one of the means through which the army and the settlers have been preventing Palestinians across the West Bank from cultivating fields and vineyards, or from tending their flocks, more intensively so since October 7. Here, west of Bethlehem, in an area dotted with settlements and outposts in what is known as ‘Gush Etzion,’ the expulsion of Palestinians from their lands is also achieved through an extensive network of locked iron gates, as well as 24 rock and earth barriers across agricultural roads. This is in addition to barriers across exits to main roads, meant to reduce the traffic of Palestinian vehicles. This is how seven months have elapsed, with Israeli authorities forbidding thousands of Palestinian farmers to pick olives or grapes, to plow, prune, weed or grow vegetables and cereals…
“On May 7, they went to the parcel a fourth time, this time after coordinating with the Israeli Coordination and Liaison Administration officer, in order to bring a tractor to plow the land. ‘We had coordinated to bring the tractor. We were five, together with my son, the tractor driver, and R., who helped him clear the weeds,’ says Hiam. ‘Suddenly masked settlers dressed like soldiers appeared. They beat my son, forbade him to talk on the phone. Regular army came after them, one man and two women soldiers from the Civil Administration. They sat us down on the ground. They did not let us talk with officer S. with whom we had coordinated to bring the tractor. They did not let us drink, and then they arrested R. The woman soldier said that he would be detained for a short time and released (at least two days passed before he was released from detention). We sat there for about five hours, until they let us return.’ Nasra Khader, 60, who has land in the area, explains the logic. ‘They bother us and cause all kinds of problems so that we will give up, and then they completely take over the land. Like my cousin’s land inside Efrat, for example, a parcel we call Sarfendi.’”
Fact Sheet: Movement and Access in the West Bank, August 2023 – OCHA
Ben Gvir calls to ‘encourage emigration,’ resettle Gaza at ultra-nationalist rally – msn/Times of Israel
Israel to Punish West Bank After 3 More Countries Recognize Palestinian State – Truthout
“Israel’s finance minister would build three illegal settlements for every nation that recognizes a Palestinian state.”