RAMALLAH, February 28, 2025 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation soldiers have verbally ordered five Palestinian families living near the village of Rantis, northwest of Ramallah, to leave their homes and farmland to make way for colonial expansion in the area.
The head of the Rantis village council, Majed Khalaf, told WAFA that these families have been facing continuous threats from the Israeli occupation and colonists to leave their homes and land. He noted that those families have been residing in the area for years and remain steadfast despite the threats.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Friday that several Israeli soldiers stormed the area on Thursday in an attempt to forcibly displace the Palestinian families. Meanwhile, the Israeli army claimed that this was an unauthorized "pirate operation" and that the soldiers involved were not authorized to expel Palestinian families.
“At Own Initiative, Israeli Soldiers Illegally Expel Palestinian Families in West Bank,” said Haaretz.
The newspaper added that last week, Israeli soldiers raided the area and gave the families a one-week deadline to leave. Since then, soldiers have repeatedly returned, demanding that the families evict their homes and land. On Thursday morning, the soldiers returned once again, giving the families only four hours to leave. Some families have already left their homes.
Local Palestinian resident, Bilal Mahareeq, said, "We don’t know where to go. We want to stay, but we fear that Israeli occupation soldiers will attack us."
He added that residents believe the attempt to forcibly expel them is linked to the illegal unauthorized colonial outpost of Havat Avihai, which was established in the area about two years ago.
During 2024, Israeli occupation measures forcibly displaced seven Palestinian communities consisting of 34 families, totaling 215 individuals. They join 22 other Palestinian Bedouin communities, made up of 277 families with 1,707 members, who were forcibly displaced after October 7, 2023, according to a report by the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.
T.R.
