The colonists became more dangerous and organized into military and paramilitary formations
A report prepared by the National Office for Land Defense and Settlement Resistance said that the colonialists are exploiting the circumstances of the brutal aggression against the Gaza Strip, to inflame the situation in more than one governorate and region in the West Bank.
The office added in its weekly settlement report issued today, Saturday, that these settlers have become more organized and dangerous, after the Israeli occupation government decided to arm them in light of a large number of them joining the occupation army to fight in the Gaza Strip.
It explained that the colonists today are organized into military and paramilitary formations, “militias,” that work side by side with the forces designated to ensure the security of the colonies and colonists in the West Bank, so that they do not face the fate of their counterparts in the Gaza envelope, according to the claim.
The report pointed out that the Kfir Brigade, within which was the “Nitzach Yehuda” Brigade, was, before the aggression, the brutal strike force storming cities, villages and camps, in which daily crimes are being committed these days, in which more than 350 citizens have been killed since the start of the aggression on October 7.
It pointed out that this force moved to the battle front in the Gaza Strip, and as an alternative, the occupation government decided to build formations with various names, including “Emergency Teams,” “Qatari Defense - Haghmar,” and others, in which a large number of members of the “Price Paying” terrorist group joined, Which uses the name “Hill Youth” as a civil cover for its practices.
The report indicated that since these colonists joined the ranks of these military and paramilitary formations in the West Bank, testimonies began to accumulate about their involvement in acts of violence, threats, and sabotage of Palestinian property. They began wearing army uniforms, demolishing homes, sabotaging infrastructure, bulldozing and sabotaging fields, building roads, and demolishing wells. water, and preventing citizens from accessing their fields and lands.
It stressed that, according to data from the B'Tselem Foundation, the residents of 16 Bedouin and herding villages in Area C were forced to leave them since the beginning of the aggression, due to the acts of violence and threats practiced by these colonists, sometimes with the protection of the soldiers, and with their participation at other times.
It pointed out that the Yesh Din - There is a Law organization confirmed in its latest reports that acts of violence committed by colonialists against Palestinians in the West Bank set a record high last year, while the United Nations, for its part, also recorded 1,225 attacks against Palestinians during the same year.
The report stated that the frequency was high compared to previous years, while the highest frequency occurred after the seventh of last October, and the attacks were concentrated, especially at the beginning of this year, in the south of Mount Hebron, including in the village of Wadi Jahish and Sha’b al-Batm, without anyone intervening to prevent them, despite The Palestinians identified the soldiers as colonizers from the region in a number of cases.
The report said that hundreds of attacks have been recorded since the beginning of the aggression, and yet only two investigations were opened in the military police on suspicion of committing criminal crimes by soldiers of the “Emergency Teams” and “Haghmar” by the so-called “Central Region Command,” which It turns a blind eye to the violence of these people, and says that the process of recruiting “Haghmar” took place within the framework of a quick examination as possible regarding each case, and recruitment decisions were made according to the special circumstances, and in the event that there is other information, which was not in the hands of the decision-making body at the time of recruitment, it will be carried out. Re-examine the matter, and decisions will be made accordingly.
This week's settlement report highlighted the unbridled violence of the colonists, especially in the governorates of Hebron, Bethlehem, and the Palestinian Jordan Valley.
It said that the colonists' orgy covered several areas of the Hebron Governorate, where they, accompanied by the occupation soldiers, severely beat citizens in the vicinity of the city of Dura, which led to the transfer of a number of them to Dura Hospital, and they also destroyed their agricultural crops.
In Yatta, in the south, colonists from the "Itzkhar Man" colony attacked sheep shepherds in Wadi al-Jawaya, forced them to leave the pastures after assaulting them, vandalized a fence surrounding the area's lands, unleashed their livestock on citizens' agricultural crops, and prevented others from cultivating their lands.
In the "Wadi Ajhish" area in Musafer Yatta, occupation soldiers, accompanied by colonists, detained citizens, abused them, and forced them to leave their lands.
In the “Quwaiwis” area, colonists planted trees on citizens’ lands, and others chased sheep herders and prevented them from reaching pastures in the “Wadi Ma’in” area.
Dozens of armed colonists from "Tzkhar Man" and "Ma'on" also attacked the Al-Jawaya community in Masafer Yatta and the homes of its citizens, and caused damage to their contents.
The colonists of "Susya and Havat Ma'on" destroyed citizens' crops in the villages of Al-Rakiz, Al-Tuwanah, Al-Mufaqara, and Susiya, and released their livestock there under the protection of heavily armed occupation police and soldiers.
In the Ma'in area, east of Yatta, the occupation forces, accompanied by armed colonists, attacked citizens, chased them, prevented them from working on their lands, and seized their agricultural equipment, as they did with the sheep shepherds in the "Fateh Sidra" area in Al-Musafer and prevented them from reaching their lands.
The town of Tarqumiya was not spared the colonists’ attacks. They demolished agricultural rooms and stone chains, and bulldozed 20 dunams of the town’s land, while the occupation forces prevented citizens from approaching their lands in the Al-Taybeh area, close to the “Adora” colony, an area that witnesses continuous attacks on citizens' property.
In the city of Hebron, which was not spared from the violence of the heavily armed colonists, they abused citizens in the Old City of Hebron accompanied by occupation soldiers, while colonists from the established “Kiryat Arba” assaulted Palestinian citizens in the Jaber neighborhood in the town, searched them in a humiliating manner, and prevented them from standing on the street. Their homes' balconies, windows, roofs, and entrances.
Bethlehem Governorate, which was also the scene of an orgy of colonists, who stormed an archaeological and historical site in the town of “Janatah” to the east, and others wreaked havoc in “Ain Hamda”, a water spring belonging to the municipality, surrounded by the bypass road and close to the “Takwa” settlement. They began restoration work in an attempt to seize hundreds of dunams of surrounding land.
In the Tekoa Wilderness, colonists set up two mobile homes in the “Danyan Hill” area, bringing the number of mobile homes in that area to 5. They also installed an iron gate in the “Fatura” area to prevent citizens from reaching their lands, and they extended an electricity network to an old house, which they had built. They seized it after forcing its owner to evacuate it by force. They also built roads in preparation for establishing a new colonial outpost in that area, after it had been emptied of its owners, and their tents and homes were demolished.
In Khallet an-Nahlah, south of Bethlehem, the colonists uprooted 250 olive seedlings and stole agricultural equipment in a scene that is constantly repeated in that area.
In the Jordan Valley, throughout the north, center and south, orgies and violations continue from one week to the next without stopping.
Armed colonists, accompanied by the occupation army, attacked citizens’ lands in Arab al-Mlihat, west of the city of Jericho. According to the Al-Baidar Organization for Defending Bedouin Rights, they installed a number of iron corners, with the aim of provoking citizens and expanding their control over their lands in the area located at the beginning of the Al-Ma’rajat Road, west of Jericho.
These attacks come within the framework of the occupation's ongoing policy of expanding settlements at the expense of the Palestinian territories.
In the northern Jordan Valley, the Palestinian Red Crescent crews transported the citizen, Qadri Alian Daraghmeh, who was a victim of the colonists’ attack on residents’ tents in the “Shuwayer” area, and his livestock were seized.
In this context, Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided last week to stop the evacuation and demolition of colonial outposts established by colonists in the West Bank during the aggression, contrary to the instructions of Defense Minister Yoav Allant, who instructed the evacuation of one colonial outpost in what the occupying state calls “Gush Etzion.” In the Bethlehem Governorate, after the extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir launched a violent attack on the Army Minister.
The National Office followed up on colonial activities last week, noting that Jerusalem remains the focus of the Judaization policy of the occupation government and municipality.
The report confirmed that the "fictitious" five-year plan projects for the development of East Jerusalem, which were approved by the occupation government in August last year, have disappeared, to be replaced by projects to blatantly Judaize the city.
At this level, and in the context of political propaganda and preparation for the campaign for municipal elections and local authorities in the occupying state, the occupation municipality in Jerusalem early last week, without legal basis, preempted judicial procedures in the Jerusalem courts, and announced in advance its approval of the colonial plan called “Silicon Valley,” which It extends along Wadi Al-Jouz Road and Othman bin Affan Street, to build buildings from 8 to 14 floors on the ruins of commercial and industrial shops in the Jerusalem Industrial Zone.
The report indicated that the plan, as confirmed by the petitioners from the city of Jerusalem, is disastrous for Jerusalemites, and affects the owners of shops in the industrial zone and their property rights by seizing their shops, despite their need for housing and an industrial area, and not for a colonial project aimed at eliminating an entire industrial zone for Jerusalemites that was originally established before the occupation.
The plan includes seizing 2,000 dunams of Palestinian-owned land, and demolishing 200 industrial facilities and workshops in Wadi Joz, to establish a high-tech and technology complex, with services, cafes, hotels, huge towers, and commercial centers.
In its plan, the occupation municipality aims to transform the Palestinian neighborhoods near the walls of the Old City and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque into a technological, industrial and commercial center, and a colonial attraction and investment area at the expense of the lands of Jerusalemites.
It is worth noting that 87% of the land in the city is not available for Palestinian construction, and that only 13% of the land is allocated for Palestinian use, even though most of these areas are already built up and overcrowded.
At the same time, the occupation municipality approved the establishment of a garbage dump on an area of 109 dunums in an area densely populated with Jerusalemites in a valley near Al-Issawiya, Anata, and Ras Shehadeh, east of occupied Jerusalem. This plan dates back to the year 2012, when the municipality intended to establish it on an area of 520 dunums in the same place. However, the people of Jerusalem, with the help of the “Bimkom - Planners for Planning Rights” association, prevented this in the Israeli courts for a full decade, and were able to reduce the damage and stop the demolition of 70 residential and commercial facilities to implement this plan.
According to the new plan, the landfill area will be spread over an area of only 109 dunums, that is, a quarter of the area allocated to the landfill in the previous version of the plan for the year 2022, and about a fifth of this size from the original plan for the year 2012, when the landfill was supposed to extend over about 520 dunums.
In addition, the new plan requires that the volume of waste not exceed 350 thousand cubic meters only, which is an amount that constitutes between 4-7% of the volume of dust planned in previous versions, which ranged between 5-8 million cubic meters.
The weekly violations documented by the National Office for Land Defense and Settlement Resistance were as follows during the reporting period:
Jerusalem: The occupation forces blew up the homes of the two martyrs, Murad (38 years old), and Ibrahim Nimr (30 years old) in the town of Sur Baher. The occupation had closed the two houses on the second of last month by welding the doors and windows to prevent entry to them, and another house in the town belonged to the Al-Khatib family after... Assaulting his companions.
The occupation forces also demolished a shed belonging to citizen Ismail Alyan in the town of Anata, and bulldozed lands in the Wadi Al-Rababa neighborhood in the town of Silwan.
Hebron: The occupation forces bulldozed a 6-dunum area of land in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood in the center of the city, which belongs to the Hebron Municipality and is planted with 50 perennial olives, in preparation for seizing it, in addition to installing an iron gate at the entrance to the land.
The occupation forces are working to build new colonial roads, located between the areas of Al-Thaala and Umm Al-Khair, east of Yatta, in order to connect the “Karmiel” and “Ma’on” settlements, another road between the “Bani Hefer” colony and the Bireen area northeast of Yatta, and a third road between "Atnael" settlement, west of Yatta, towards Khallet Al-Farra.
The occupation forces also closed with dirt barriers the entrances to the population centers in Masafer Yatta and its east. It demolished a house and a barn with an area of 120 square metres, built before the occupation and more than 80 years old, and bulldozed lands around them and agricultural beds, and uprooted several fruit and forest trees, owned by the citizen Murad Abdel Samie Ashour in the village of Birin, south of Hebron.
The occupation soldiers and colonists assaulted the young man, Omar Abdel Hadi Al-Qassas (33 years old), south of Hebron, resulting in bruises, after which he was transferred to Dura Hospital. In the town of Yatta, they detained the citizen, Muhammad Al-Nawajaa, and abused him.
Ramallah: Colonists uprooted a number of grape and almond trees on the land of citizen Qassem Ghafri, in the Abu Al-Awf area in Sinjil, and vandalized the water tanks he used to irrigate his land.
Bethlehem: The occupation forces bulldozed a land of two dunums, belonging to the citizen Omar Ismail Issa, in the Khalayel Al-Luz area, southeast of Bethlehem. The citizen, Ibrahim Aweida Sawarka (40 years old), was also injured with fractures, wounds, and bruises, after colonists severely beat him while he and his family were in the tent. In the Kaisan wilderness, they unleashed police dogs on him, which bit his leg and caused him fractures, wounds, and bruises throughout his body. He was transferred to the hospital in Bethlehem to receive treatment, in addition to destroying all the contents of the tent.
The occupation forces arrested the child Mahmoud Abayat (16 years old) while grazing his sheep, and stole 60 heads from him while he was on his land in the “Esh Ghurab” area, east of Bethlehem.
The occupation forces stormed the town of Nahalin, stationed at the northern entrance in the Wadi Salem area, searched agricultural lands, and forced the citizens Obaida Ibrahim Shakarna and Muhammad Sawad to leave their lands, while they seized an agricultural tractor belonging to the citizen Ali Shakarna, burned a vehicle, destroyed solar panels, and damaged cameras. Surveillance belongs to citizen Moataz Najajra.
Settlers uprooted 250 olive seedlings in Khallet al-Nahla, south of Bethlehem, from land belonging to citizen Naji Farraj. The occupation forces also seized an excavator in the village of Nahalin, owned by a citizen, while he was working to reclaim agricultural land in the Khallet al-Dalia area, and prevented farmers from working on their land, knowing that the Khallet al-Dalia area Its area is estimated at 200 dunams, planted with perennial olive trees, vines, and almond trees, and it is private property for citizens.
Nablus: The occupation forces seized a vehicle belonging to detainee Ghassan Dhouqan, raided his house and tampered with its contents. They also raided a printing press belonging to the Dhouqan family, and seized its equipment after vandalizing its contents.
Colonists demolished the walls of an agricultural room belonging to the citizen Thaer from the town of Qusra, and equipment was stolen from it, and the house of the citizen Raed Yassin in Burqa, north of Nablus, was destroyed following an attack by the colonists.
Salfit: The occupation forces demolished a car wash and a nursery belonging to the citizen Muhammad Mansour in the town of Kafl Haris, while colonists burned an agricultural room and olive trees owned by the citizen Najeh Harb from the town of Kafr Al-Di in the Al-Jaffa area in the northern face of the town.
Jenin: Colonists, protected by the occupation forces, attacked Khirbet Al-Hamam between Kafr Ra’i, Al-Nazlat, and Khirbet Al-Mukhal, and assaulted and beat the citizen Majdi Al-Mukhal. They also attacked citizens’ lands in the northern region, “the Tabars region,” of Kafr Ra’i’s lands, and prevented citizens from entering their lands and working on them, while others assaulted them. The young man, Ihsan Muhammad Saabna, from the village of Fahma.
Tulkarm: Two months ago, occupation bulldozers bulldozed lands near the colony known as “Al-Sunbula” or the “Harmish” settlement from the lands of Al-Nazla Al-Sharqiya, north of Tulkarm, with the aim of expanding it. They prevented their owners from entering it and informed the owners of the houses built on it of the intention to demolish them in the coming days.
The soldiers assault and beat anyone who approaches the area, fire live bullets at them, and seize tractors and agricultural equipment belonging to farmers who work on the Al-Mughraqa agricultural land, adjacent to and belonging to Al-Nazla Al-Sharqiya, who make a living from this land, and it is considered their only source of livelihood.
Jordan Valley: The occupation forces seized a bulldozer while it was working to facilitate a road in the Ras al-Ahmar area in the northern Jordan Valley. On an agricultural tractor owned by Hussein Zuhdi Daraghmeh, while he was working in the “Nab’ Ghazal” area in Al-Farsiyya.
Two Palestinian shepherds were severely beaten by colonialists in the northern Jordan Valley, along Route 90, and one of them was transferred to the Turkish Hospital in Tubas for treatment.
The colonists also opened fire on a private vehicle belonging to Louay Qadri Alyan Daraghmeh, causing serious damage to it, while the occupation police then seized it.
Under the protection of the occupation army and police, the colonists seized 500 heads of cows, belonging to citizens Qadri Daraghmeh and Adel Alyan Zamil Daraghmeh, and headed them to the Rosh HaBqaa camp of the occupation army, where they loaded them into large trucks and headed to an unknown destination.
