HEBRON, Tuesday, March 16, 2021 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers today worked on Palestinian-owned land in Masafer Yatta in the south of the West Bank in an attempt to take over the land, according to Fouad al-Imour, a local activist.
He told WAFA that settlers from the illegal settlements of Maon and Karmiel, and under army protection, razed agricultural lands in al-Oyoun al-Beed of Masafer Yatta and owned by three local families in order to take them over to expand their settlements and connect them together.
He said the settlers last week razed a nearby land but were confronted by the residents and activists and were forced to leave it, explaining that the settlers have intensified their attacks on Palestinian-owned lands in the vulnerable Masafer Yatta region, which is classified as Area C that falls under full Israeli military control.
Palestinians are not allowed to build in or develop Area C, which makes more than 60 percent of the area of the occupied West Bank, while Israelis are allowed free hand to steal and build in that area at will.
M.K.
