NABLUS,
Wednesday, June 16, 2021 (WAFA) - Hundreds of Israeli settlers today stormed
the archaeological site of Sebastia, north of Nablus
city, according to a municipal source.
Sebastia
mayor, Mohammad Azzem, told WAFA that hundreds of
settlers forced their way into the site under the protection of the Israeli
military, which declared the site off-limit for Palestinians.
He
added that a large unit of Israeli soldiers cordoned off the town before
deploying in its streets and occupying the rooftops of several houses near the
site to make room for the settler intrusion.
Located
11 kilometers to the northwest of Nablus, Sebastia is
a small historical town located on a hill with panoramic views across the West
Bank and has a population of some 3,000 Palestinians.
A
prominent settlement during the Iron Age as well as the Hellenistic and Roman
eras, the town embraces a Roman amphitheater, temples, a Byzantine and a
crusader churches, dedicated to Saint John the Forerunner, who baptized Jesus
Christ in the Jordan River, besides to a mosque built in honor of the saint.
Christians and Muslims believe the town to be the burial place of the saint.
Israel
has been attempting to take over the town, which has become a site of heated
cultural conflict, preventing the Palestinian Authority from conducting
restoration works at the site, prohibiting providing tourist services to
visitors from around the world, and stealing antiquities from it.
Palestinians
complain that Israeli settlers have repeatedly attacked the town and fenced
parts of its antiquities, where they hold religious rituals.
Twelve
dunums of the archaeological area is located within
(B) areas, which are controlled by Israeli military and Palestinian
administrative authority, while the other part of the area lies within (C)
areas, which falls under complete Israeli administrative and military control.
Owners
of restaurants and hotels complain about the Israeli acts in the town which
have caused them severe damages and losses.
Israel
uses the Jewish nationalist name “Judea and Samaria” to refer to the occupied
West Bank to reinforce its bogus claims to the territory and to give them a
veneer of historical and religious legitimacy.
There
are over 700,000 Israeli settlers living in settlements in the West Bank and
East Jerusalem.
K.F.
