Tag it:

Settlers' Attacks

Hebron Region

- On 16th November, settlers from Kiryat Arba, east of Hebron, renewed their attack on the homes of Wadi Nassara, a village south of the settlement. Additionally they prevented the Palestinians from using the only road that links Wadi Nassara and Hebron city center. These settlers claim the road is purely for their use, calling it "prayers road". The following day the Palestinians found a message in Arabic scrawled on the road in large writing proclaiming " It is closed! Arabs go away! Don't walk on this street". This closing of the road, in the face of Wadi Nassara residents, means that instead of the short 500m route they must now endure a 10km journey. The aim of the settlers, with the help of the Army, is to make the road for settlers only, linking their settlement of Kiryat Arba with the Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi (Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron?s old city.

- In the afternoon of the17th November settlers from the outpost of Abraham Avino, which lies to the west of the Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi (Cave of the Patriarchs) in old city threw stones at houses in Sahla quarter. Abed el Hadi Gafisha reported that ?the settlers threw stones at my house and the houses of Tayseer Salhab and Tareq Gafisha, for no reasons. Some of the windows were broken. Similar events happen frequently and on numerous occasions we have reported this to the police but no action has been taken and the settlers are continuing their actions. We know that they want us to leave our houses in the old city. Our life has become very difficult?.

- On 19th November, settlers from Susiya settlement, South-East of Yatta, in the south Hebron district, attacked farmers from Imneizel village and prevented them from working and planted their land. Mohammed Huraizat, one of the farmers, reported ?around ten settlers from Susiya came towards us, in the morning, on our land and forced us with pointed guns to leave our land. Additionally the settlers brought tractors and cultivated the land. The soldiers came and told us to leave. This land that the settlers cultivated is around twenty dunams. In the area thousands of dunams have already been closed, according to military orders, as closed military areas. Daily the farmers are facing aggression from settlers and soldiers, the aim is very clear, to force the residents to leave the land so it can be utilized by the settlement. During the last olive harvest tens of families couldn't reach their trees because of settlers and soldiers who prevented them entering their land, particularly the land close to or around the numerous settlements in the area".

- On 11th December, the settlers from the numerous outpost in the old city of Hebron and Kiryat Arba renewed their attack on the residents homes in the Jaber quarter, east of the Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi (Cave of the Patriarchs). Tens of settlers, some of them armed, threw stones on the houses during the night, smashing some of the windows, the houses attacked belonged to the Shareef Salaimeh, Hani Salaimeh, Jaber and Abu Sharekh families.

- At the same time settlers from Ramat Yishai outpost in Tel Rumeyda stoned the house of Mohammed Hamed Abu Aisha near the outpost. Abu Aisha said that the attacks took place within full view of the soldiers, who were at the nearby checkpoint, but they did nothing to stop the settlers'.

Bethlehem Region

- In mid November settlers from Tekoa' D settlement, south east of Bethlehem, cut down ninety olive trees in Rakhme. Sulaiman Abu Mofarreh, the owner of the trees went to the police station in Kfar Etzion, the policemen came and took pictures of the trees and promised to follow up the case. Sulaiman said ??but to date nothing has happened and the settlers? aggressions is increasing daily. One month ago the settlers came and took 600m of water pipes which we had brought in order to improve the pipeline to our village of Taqu?. Again we went to the police and they took a report, again promising to follow up the case.?

North of the West Bank

- On 18th November, settlers from Mevo Dotan settlement, east of Tubas in the Jenin district, made a checkpoint in the middle of Wadi Maleh road, east of Tobas. They stoned the Palestinian cars on the street. Sa'd Barham said ?whilst I was driving my car down the main road I saw nine armed settlers, six of them standing in the middle of the street, the other three standing by the side of the road. When I reached them they started throwing stones at my car, two windows were smashed. I saw other Palestinians cars that were attacked by the settlers. We went away and informed other drivers not to drive down that road on that day".

- On 29th November, a settler from Kfar Tapuah settlement, south of Nablus ran over two old women from Huwwara village, also south of Nablus. The Palestinians gathered to stop the settler but he opened fire, as he wanted to escape. Soldiers arrived and arrested him. This road has been the scene of many incidents involving Palestinians being run over by speeding settlers, who continue to drive fast despite the fact that the village school is near the road (see previous AIC reports).

- On 1st December, soldiers and settlers prevented tens of Tulkarem farmers from reaching their lands, near Avnei Hefetz and Enav settlements. The farmer Adnan Saleh from Beit Lid village reported ?I have 15 dunams near Enav settlement which I tried to enter many times, but the so called settlement security men opened fire at me and many other farmers from my and other closed villages. Not only this but the soldiers who came afterwards forced us to leave the land. The same thing happened to us on our land near Avnei Hefetz, which infers to us that there is a plan to confiscate the land in order to expand the existing settlements.?

- On 12th December, settlers from Ariel settlement, north of Salfeet district attacked farmers from Iskaka village, while they were working their lands. The settlers pointed their guns at the farmers' faces and forced them to leave the land to the north east of the village. The Land Defense Committee sources in the village stated that the settlers want the farmers not to work that area so as to expand the settlement and confiscate more land. This is not a new aggression, these settlers have engaged in numerous attacks over the last two years.

Land Confiscations:

- On 15th November, Army bulldozers uprooted two hundred olive trees beside the settlement road that leads to Asfar settlement, east of Sa'ir town, north of Hebron city. The army claimed this is for the security of settlers on the road, after an attack against settler's cars. The trees belong to Shalaldeh family from the town.

- On 17th November, the Army bulldozers started leveling and damaging approximately ten dunams of land belonging to families in Shufa village, south of Tulkarem, in the north of the West Bank. The aim is to build a new settlement road, linking the bypass road south of Tulkarem with the new outpost of Marabee'. This land belongs to the Abu Elab, Dorubee, Hannon and Taneeb families.

- On 21st November, the bulldozers stated working and leveling land in Beit Lahiya town in the Gaza Strip in order to build a new outpost near Elei Sinai and Dugit settlements. This work is going on in sixty dunams belonging to the Abu Hajeen and Haw families. Palestinians sources reported that the settlers and soldiers put fences on the land and they are preparing electricity and water lines on the land. To the south east of Elei Sinai settlers confiscated another seven dunams in order to expand the settlement.

- On 12th December, three Army bulldozers started working and damaging the land west of Husan village, in the west of the Bethlehem district. The work is going on over a 2km stretch, 20m wide, on She'eb Hammad and She'eb Mansour sites. The mayor of the village, Mustafa Hamamereh reported ?the work is for the preparation of the Separation Wall in the west of the Bethlehem district. He added that thousands of dunams, mostly cultivated olive and other trees, will be isolated on the other side of the wall, resulting in tens of families actually losing their lands and therefore their income.?