Ramallah (Al-Ittihad)
A Palestinian government body said yesterday that the Israeli army had confiscated a large area of Palestinian land south of the city of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, amounting to about 12,715 dunams.
The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said in a statement carried by the Palestinian News Agency, WAFA, that “the Israeli authorities decided to seize a total of 12,715 dunums of Palestinian land in the village of Aqraba, southeast of Nablus.”
The Authority stated that the confiscation decision was made under the pretext that “they are state lands” with the aim of converting Palestinian lands into the growing settlement project, and prohibiting Palestinians from entering these lands under the pretext that they have become state lands.
She added that “the new decision is part of a large plan aimed at controlling the eastern slopes of the West Bank, specifically those adjacent to the Jordan Valley and the edge of the Jordan Valley, by controlling vast areas in this region.”
The Authority continued: “Since the beginning of 2024, the Israeli authorities have issued 4 announcements to transform Palestinian lands into state lands, which their owners are prohibited from accessing; therefore, they cannot cultivate, use, or reclaim them.”
She pointed out that “the area of lands declared as state lands, including this declaration, has reached a total of 24 thousand dunams since the beginning of this year, while the total area of lands confiscated under various names since the beginning of the year until this moment has reached a total of 39 thousand dunams.”
On Tuesday, the commission indicated in a semi-annual report that 17 settlement outposts had been established, while the Israeli government had granted legal status to 11 other outposts.
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