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Hebron Region

 On 5 January, settlers from the Sosya settlement to the southeast of Yatta, started building a new road to the west and south of the settlement. Palestinian Local Committee sources in the nearby Sosya village, which lies to the west of the settlement, said that for a third day the bulldozers were leveling and damaging the land for the new road. The land which was targeted belongs to the Haddar, Halees and Nawaj'a families from the Palestinian village of Sosya. The road started to the west of the settlement and runs towards the south. Tens of dunam of Palestinian-owned land will be confiscated inside the area. The same sources stated that the total land is 150 dunam in size. Palestinian Land Defense sources in Hebron report that as a result of this project and the consequential confiscation of land, the Palestinians villagers will be isolated from their land and the future progress of the village will be limited. It also will give the settlement the opportunity to expand, on account of the Palestinian land that will be seized.

On 19 January, settlers from the Ramot Yashai settlement outpost in downtown Hebron city renewed their attacks against the Tayseer Abu Aisha family in nearby Tal Rumeida. A group of young settlers threw stones at children from the family. On 18 January, a group of settlers, including a woman, shouted abuse at the family. They used obscene language and racial slurs against Arabs and against the family. 

On 26 January, dozens of settlers from many settlement to the south of Bethlehem closed the main road in Taqo' and Za'tara villages to the south east of Bethlehem. The settlers used to carry out a weekly protest against the Israeli military, because they were prevented from using the road there. Because of the protesting actions, they closed the road to Palestinians, who were forced to spend hours traveling a much longer route.

On 28 January, the Israeli military started positioning the new fence around Karma'el settlement to the south of the town of Yatta. Engineers from the Israeli side set down points to mark where the fence will be built. Jaber Humaidat, the chairperson of the Local Council in Omm Saffa village, which is located to the west of the settlement, reported that Israeli officers and engineers came to the area two days ago and marked the route of the four kilometer-long fence, which will be located to the south of the settlement. Days ago, the officers told the owners of the land that the fence would be built in the coming months. If the project goes ahead, around 1000 dunam of Palestinian land, which is located between Karma’el and the nearby Ma'on settlement, will be isolated. Mr. Humaidat added, “It seems to us that they want to make geographic unity between them, which means more confiscation of the residents’ land.” The targeted land belongs to Ahmed Ali Awwad, Sulaiman Shehda, Hasan Ibraheem, Awwad Shatat, Bader Kareesh, Jebreen Shehda, Mohammed Issa, Eed Yameen and the Hadaleen family.

Nablus and North of West Bank

On 3 January, an Israeli Army officer in the West Bank issued an order to confiscate around 200 dunam of land belonging to many families in Kufor Labad and Shofa villages in the Tulkurem District. The purpose of the confiscation is to build a separation fence around the Avni Haivets settlement, which was originally built on land belonging to the two villages. The order stated that the purpose of building the fence is to protect the settlers from “suspected Palestinian attacks against the settlement, and for security reasons.” The Palestinian Land Defense chairperson in Shofa, Tahseen Hamed, said, “The order came at the time that the Army bulldozers were working on preparing the land for the separation wall and fence to be built around the settlement. This land became a target for the settlers and the Army years ago. We think that they are going to implement their project to take over more land.” The names of the sites in question are: Wadi Nemer, Khallet El Shaikh, Manzala, Wadi Jamose, Wadi Issa, Jaasa and Beer Salem. 

On 22 January, a group of settlers under the protection of the Israeli military, entered Joseph’s Tomb near Balata village to the east of Nablus. It is not the first time that the settlers have entered the area. The settlers claim that this area is a holy site for Jews, but the historical accuracy of this claim has been criticized even by Israeli sources.*  The Israeli side withdrew from the area according to the Oslo accords and gave it to Palestinian Authority (PA). Since then it has been under PA jurisdiction.

On 24 January tens of settlers from numerous settlements in the Nablus area, entered Awarta village in the middle of the night. The settlers threw stones at the houses and cars and even entered some of the houses. Mohammed Awwad, chairperson of the Palestinian Local Council, reports that the settlers stayed in the village approximately three hours, damaging the windows of five cars and throwing stones on the home of Jamil Sherab. All these actions happened within the sight of Israeli soldiers, who were stationed with the settlers to protect them. It is not the first time that the settlers have entered the village, they claimed that there is a holy place for the Jews in the village and they used to come and make marches and protests actions, in addition to attacks against the residents in the village. 

On 30 January, Israeli military bulldozers demolished an establishment belonging to Sulaiman Mohammed Yousef and located in the Aljeeb village to the north of Jerusalem. Yousef reports that this establishment was built 15 years ago used for raising chicken. But because of the continuing expansion of the nearby settlement of Giv’at Ze’ev, the Israeli military began demanding that to Yousef demolish it. The military then demolished, claiming it was built without official Israeli permission. Yousef stated, “However, I think the aim of that is to expand the settlement and add more houses.” The size of the establishment by the Israeli military is four dunam.  

* See, for instance, Intifada Hits the Headlines by Daniel Dor, Indiana University Press, pp. 46-47.