Salfit: A geography devoured by settlements, from Sarta to Bruqin

In the Salfit Governorate, specifically in the towns of Sarta, Bruqin, Kafr ad-Dik, and Haris, one cannot discuss daily life without relating it to fear, siege, and the sight of bulldozers, which has become part of the morning routine. These villages are not treated as human communities, but rather as temporary obstacles in the path of the Israeli settlement project, to be overcome by any means necessary. Sarta: Devouring Land Under the Protection of Arms On Monday morning, the residents of the village of Sarta, west of Salfit, woke up to the sound of heavily armed settler bulldozers continuing to raze their lands on the southern side of the village. Less than 200 meters from the residents' homes, land is being seized and trees uprooted under the protection of the occupation army, as part of a new expansion project that is feared to be an extension of an integrated settlement plan linking the settlements and outposts around the so-called "Trans-Samaria" road. The head of the Sarta village council, Alaa Salah, says that what is happening is not just an encroachment on private property, but rather "a systematic attempt to impose a new settlement reality, forcing residents to slowly leave under pressure of fear, persecution, and harassment." Haris and Kafr ad-Dik: Closing Entrances... and Collective Punishment On the northern side of Salfit, the village of Haris and the western side of Kafr ad-Dik are not immune to the same repression. The entrance to Haris has been closed for more than two months, and the historic western entrance to Kafr ad-Dik has been closed with an iron gate since October 7, for no apparent reason other than what is known as "collective punishment," a common Israeli approach to dealing with Palestinian communities. Palestinians in Haris and Kafr ad-Dik, as in other villages, are forced to travel long distances and take rough detours, wasting their time and fuel, while settlers are granted wide, well-lit, and safe roads that pass through the same Palestinian lands. Israel, under clear orders from the settlement councils, has transformed the villages and towns of the Salfit Governorate into cantons, closed at will and forgotten for months. This scene embodies the absence of even the most basic standards of humanity and the complete absence of international accountability.

In Bruqin, the scene is even more vivid, revealing the depth and openness of the settlement project. Decisions are made on crucial issues related to land and the future in a tent erected by Yossi Dagan, head of the Northern West Bank Settlement Council, among Palestinian homes. This tent is not merely a site for protest or political pressure; it serves as a comprehensive settlement planning center, from which Dagan runs a quasi-command center to realize his declared dream: a million settlers in Samaria alone. Days earlier, inside this tent, Dagan signed an agreement with the Israeli Minister of Construction and Housing to establish 15 new settlements and five industrial zones, amidst the sound of bulldozers continuing to level Bruqin lands to pave the way for settlement construction. The strategy that repels Palestinians and attracts settlers is clear and complex: displacing Palestinians through blockades, preventing construction, revoking permits, closing roads, and demolishing homes. Attracting settlers is achieved through road construction, infrastructure development, providing the world's fastest internet, and opening tourist areas within Palestinian nature reserves. Among the most prominent projects overseen by Dagan, which are changing the landscape of the West Bank, are: the Huwara bypass road; the Al-Fondaq bypass road; a bus station east of the Ariel settlement; technological and infrastructure connectivity projects; support for pastoral settlements to control the mountains and expel Palestinian shepherds; a silent and systematic settlement project. Between a bulldozer in Sarta, a closed road in Haris and Kafr ad-Dik, and a decision-making tent in Bruqin, Israel is drawing the borders of its future existence, not through negotiations or law, but rather through a fait accompli backed by force. While Palestinians are prevented from building a home, a settlement is built on their land. While the entrance to their village is blocked, a new road is opened for the settler. What is required today is not only to record these attacks, but also to launch a comprehensive popular movement on the ground and a comprehensive political, legal, and media campaign, locally and internationally, to reopen the debate about the future of Palestinians in their homeland, before talk of land becomes mere memories documented in old map books.