Since the start of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” battle on October 7, and with the continuation of the devastating Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, the occupation authorities continue to target the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem with assassinations, raids, arrests, demolition of homes, and imposing a strict siege on cities, villages, and camps, especially those close to the Wall. Chapter and from occupied East Jerusalem.

Targeting and siege,

Dr. Saada Al-Khatib, former mayor of Beit Iksa and lecturer at Al-Quds University, says that the villages northwest of Jerusalem are living in a state of targeting, siege, and isolation due to the closure and arbitrary measures imposed by the occupation army on our cities and villages, including Beit Iksa.

Al-Khatib added in an exclusive interview with (Jerusalem): The occupation confiscated most of their village’s lands, amounting to approximately 14,670 dunums, for the benefit of settlement, the wall, and the construction of a train railway. It established the “Atarot” colony on it in 1970, and the “Ramot” colony in 1973.

Al-Khatib warned of the danger of the new settlement plan at the beginning of 2023, which was approved by the Israeli occupation authorities to establish 1,700 settlement units in Jerusalem on the lands of Lifta and Beit Iksa, as part of a project to complete the establishment of 58,000 settlement units in East Jerusalem. He said that this project will affect the geography and demographics of the Palestinian presence in the Holy City. With the near completion of the construction of infrastructure, including railways and roads, to enhance settlement and connect the new settlement units with the “Ramat Shlomo” settlement, in which the occupation authorities recently established 1,600 new settlement units.

He explained that Beit Iksa had suffered from settlement since the Nakba in 1950, when the “Mafsir Tzion” colony seized tens of dunams of its lands that had been occupied in 1948 and were not returned to the Jordanian administration in accordance with the Armistice Agreement. Likewise, the Ramot colony (established in 1972) confiscated approximately 1,530 dunums of village land, specifically on the eastern side, in an area called “Ansarat.” A valley now separates the village from the colony established on its lands. And the “Har Samuel” settlement (established in 1996), which is part of the Givat Ze’ev colony (in 1977), which confiscated about 15 dunams from the village in an area called the Tabish Basin. In 2010, the occupation authorities confiscated fifty dunums for the high-speed train from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, which was first announced in 2008 and which was opened last year in 2022.

Division of Beit Iksa lands,,

Al-Khatib pointed out that according to the Oslo Accords, the lands of Beit Iksa were divided into areas (B) and (C). More than 90% of the village’s lands are located in area (C), which is approximately 7,400 dunums, and the area allowed for expansion does not exceed 650 dunums. He said that Beit Iksa is located to the northwest of the city of Jerusalem, bordered by the villages of Bedouin, Beit Surik, Al-Nabi Samuel, Lifta, Colonia, and Beit Mahsir, which is located to the northwest of the city of Jerusalem, and is about 9 km away from it.

Al-Khatib explained: “The Israeli authorities chose not to build the separation wall along the Green Line in this area, but in fact annexed the village to Jerusalem, in addition to preventing the citizens of Beit Iska from entering Jerusalem. Unlike other Palestinian villages in the area that are surrounded by a wall.” Separating it from Israel, the eastern side of Beit Iksa facing the “Ramot” settlement is not surrounded by a wall, and there is a valley separating the village and the settlement - which are only a few hundred meters away.

Separated from other villages,,

He said that the village is separated from other villages in the area adjacent to it by an electronic fence that surrounds it from the north-western side and is linked to the separation wall.

Al-Khatib pointed to what was published in 2009 in the Haaretz newspaper, where the Israeli government decided in 2006 that the village would remain on the Palestinian side of the separation wall, in contrast to the original route of the wall, according to which the village should be on the Israeli side of the wall. According to the published article, this is due to the expansion of Beit Iksa on the “Ramot” area and “1” Street, claiming that there are lands previously owned by the Israelis in the lands adjacent to the village. However, since the decision was issued, no wall has been built separating Ixa and Israel. Instead, a wall was constructed surrounding Beit Iksa from the north-west side, which was defined by the security service as 'temporary'.

He added: “When citizens move to Beit Iksa coming from neighboring villages, and although the two areas belong to the areas of the Palestinian National Authority, a military checkpoint hinders entry into the village. It is linked to a long path of the wall extending 9 km, and is equipped with electronic tools, and it is virtually Beit Iksa is separated from all of its Palestinian surroundings in the villages northwest of Jerusalem. On the other hand, Beit Iksa is “open” to the areas under direct occupation influence, as there is no clear physical separation between the village and the settlements near it.

Temporary barriers,,

In response to a question, Al-Khatib stated that since 2008, the occupation began erecting temporary barriers on the outskirts of the village, until the Beit Iksa checkpoint was permanently installed at the northern entrance to the village since 2010, isolating it from its surroundings and its natural extension in Jerusalem and the rest of the villages northwest of it. Not only that, but it also isolated it from its artificial surroundings imposed on it after the wall, in the Ramallah area.

He said: “Since then, the occupation forces have prohibited entry to the village, except for those registered on their identity cards as residents or as persons to whom special permits have been issued. These permits are issued after a security check and are given mainly to permanent workers in the village, such as teachers and members of the clinic staff in the village.”

He added that in parallel with erecting permanent barriers at the entrance to Beit Iksa, in 2010, Israel blocked the road leading from the village to Jerusalem via “Ramot” using a permanently closed gate. As a result, village residents who carry Israeli ID cards today are forced to travel to Ramallah and from there to the Qalandiya checkpoint to reach Jerusalem, which prolongs their journey to the city by half an hour or even more. Thus, the village was separated not only from the rest of the West Bank, but also from Jerusalem, which was historically the conservative city of the village and the beating heart of its residents.

Tight siege,

The former mayor of Beit Iksa stated that the tightened Israeli siege had reached the point of difficulty receiving goods, equipment, and daily needs. He said that many suppliers are not allowed to enter the village and therefore business owners and residents are forced to reach the checkpoint to obtain goods. Some suppliers are only allowed to enter after a coordination process through the village council or the Palestinian Authority, but they are also often blocked for long periods and sometimes blocked from entering altogether. Even village residents who bring with them goods they purchased from outside the village are sometimes obstructed, although there are no official restrictions on the entry of goods.

Al-Khatib stressed that the occupation’s restrictions and procedures imposed on access to Beit Iksa made the village an isolated place. This separation greatly affects the ability of the village residents to establish social and family relationships and their access to their workplaces and services in East Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank. In addition, the restrictions increase the difficulties for workers, suppliers, and service providers to reach the village, which harms the Council’s ongoing management of providing basic services to citizens. These strict and arbitrary restrictions do not allow the residents of Beit Iksa to practice a reasonable daily routine. It seriously affects the residents of an entire village.

Beit Iksa is the closest to Jerusalem,,

Al-Khatib pointed out that Beit Iksa is the closest Palestinian village in the Jerusalem Governorate to Jerusalem. He said that after the occupation and after the siege, it became the furthest away. Entry to the village of Beit Iksa requires heading towards the town of Biddu, reaching what is known as “Biddu Roundabout”, and from there heading to the village located on Its entrance is a heavily fortified military checkpoint.

Al-Khatib explained that the military checkpoint at the entrance to Beit Iksa controls the entry and exit of residents who hold its identity card, while any Palestinian from outside Beit Iksa is not allowed to pass through the military checkpoint, except after obtaining prior permission from the occupation, in addition to coordination being conducted. Among the soldiers stationed at the checkpoint and the village council administration, including merchants of food supplies and cooking gas cylinders.

He pointed out that the members of the village council are seven individuals, and each member is allocated one day to stand at the military checkpoint, in order to coordinate everyone who wants to enter the village, whether guests, whether relatives of the residents of Beit Iksa, or to perform the duty of condolence, or to participate in weddings, where he greets. Each person's identity is given to the soldiers, and he is not allowed to be inside the village after 10 p.m.

Occupation obstacles,,

Al-Khatib stated that the residents of Beit Iksa face obstacles from the occupation, especially in funeral and wedding homes, where the names of those arriving must be presented at a later time to obtain a permit to enter, and in many cases people are prevented from passing, despite all the coordination procedures for this. He stressed that entry restrictions are not limited to Palestinian people coming from outside the village, but also include cooking gas, as the occupation does not allow it to be brought into Beit Iksa residents except on Sunday and Wednesday of every week, while restricting the number of cylinders to no more than 40 cylinders per day.

In response to a question about the military checkpoint, Al-Khatib said that they are suffocating the village by imposing restrictions on merchants bringing food supplies into shops from outside Beit Iksa. Firstly, the merchant must bring identification and tax papers, and secondly obtain coordination for the entry of goods, and a member of the village council must be present at Barrier for that.

Reverse migration,,

He stressed that these arbitrary Israeli restrictions and measures pushed many of the residents of Beit Iksa to live outside their village, as the number of Beit Iksa residents in the village and the diaspora is estimated at about 37 thousand people, and it is inhabited by about 2,700 Palestinians. The number decreases and rises in parallel with the Israeli policy of siege.

Al-Khatib said that the majority of the village's residents who held residency (Israeli ID) left outside it after it was isolated from the city of Jerusalem. Its population in 1922 was estimated at about (791) people, about (1410) people in 1945, about (633) people in 1967, about (949) people in 1987, and in 1996 the number increased to (1259). breeze.

Regarding the roots of Beit Iksa in history, Dr. Saada Al-Khatib, a lecturer at Al-Quds University, explained that antiquities dating back to the Hellenistic, the Hellenistic and the Roman period were found in the village. During the Crusader period, the village was known as “Jenanara”. There are two versions of the name: The first is due to it being a center for Saladin’s forces (according to popular accounts), so it was a center for his army and was called the House of Cloaks during his war against the Crusaders. The second is that a good man lived in the village in ancient times, coming from the city of Al-Kiswah, south of Damascus, in Syria. His name was “Kassa,” and he was famous for solving people’s health problems and treating them with herbs, and from here came the name “Beit Iksa.”