NABLUS,
April 29, 2015 (WAFA) – Israeli forces Wednesday demolished a Palestinian-owned
structure used for raising livestock in Rujeib village to the south of Nablus,
said a local activist.
Ghassan
Daghlas, who monitors the construction of Israeli settler units in northern
West Bank, said that large Israeli forces, accompanied by a bulldozer, cordoned
off the structure belonging to ‘Ala Riad and proceeded to demolish it.
Data from
the Rujeib village profile prepared by the Applied Institute of Jerusalem
indicate that the village occupied a total area of about 4,918 dunums,
including 1,449 arable land and 438 residential area.
The
village is famous for the cultivation of olive trees, cereals, especially
wheat. The economy of the village is mainly dependent on the agricultural
sector, which absorbs 40% of the total workforce. About half of the villagers
also rear livestock, like cows and sheep among others.
Following
the 1993 Oslo Accords, the village was divided into Area B and Area C,
constituting 28% and 72% respectively of the total village area. The villagers,
who are concentrated in Area B, are prohibited from building and managing their
lands in Area C unless they are authorized by Israeli authorities.
Israel
has seized hundreds of dunums belonging to the villagers for the construction
of settlements, military bases and by-pass roads. A total of 169 dunums has
been seized for the construction of ‘Itamar’ settlement, located on the
south-eastern side of the village.
Founded
in 1984 and containing approximately 3,564 Israeli settlers, ‘Itamar’ occupies
an area of approximately 1,181 dunums. It is also partially built on the
territory of the neighboring villages of ‘Awarta, Beit Furik, and Yanun
neighboring villages.
Israeli
authorities have also seized 3,000 dunums from Rujeib, ‘Awarta, Beit Furik,
Yanun and Aqraba village lands for ‘Itamar’ settlement and the adjacent
settlement outposts in order to create a barrier between the Palestinian villages
and this settlement. Most of these isolated lands are agricultural and an
important source of income for the residents of the aforementioned Palestinian
villages.
Israel
has seized more tracts of land to the south and east of Rujeib for the construction
of a new Israeli bypass road linking which links between Huwwara checkpoint and
“Elon Moreh” settlement. The length of this road extends approximately 2km onto
the village territory of Rujeib, and separates it from Beit Furik neighboring
village, that I located near the village on the east.
The
settlements are in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention,
which establishes that the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts
of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. The Security
Council, the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council and the International
Court of Justice have all confirmed that the construction and expansion of
Israeli settlements and other settlement-related activities in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory are illegal under international law.
K.F./T.R.