BETHLEHEM, December 19, 2015 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers Saturday
morning physically assaulted and briefly detained a Palestinian farmer and his
son in Tuqu‘ town, southeast of Bethlehem, said a municipal source.
WAFA reported on Head of Tuqu‘ Local Council, Taysir Abu Mefreh, as
saying that ‘Ali Hmaid, 60, and his son, Eyad, in his 30s, were attacked by a
number of settlers from Tekoa illegal settlement while they were plowing their
land in Rakhma locality.
Settlers reportedly briefly detained Ali and his son, forcing them to
lie face down on the ground. They also seized their tractor.
Tuqu‘, a town dating back to 1948, has a population of about 9,000
who originate from ‘Arab al-Ta‘amra. The town includes three other localities:
Khirbet Ad Deir, Al Halkoom, and Khirbet Tuqu’.
According to Tuqu‘ Town Profile
published by the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem, thirty percent of the
town population work in agriculture. Workers in agriculture are classified as
one of the vulnerable social groups in the town.
The town population also depend on livestock for their livelihood.
They produce and sell dairy products in local market and Bethlehem market.
The town occupies a total area of about 191,262 dunums of which
188,845 dunums are considered arable land, and 590 dunums are residential land.
A total of 6,250 dunums (accounting for about 3 percent) are planted with
seasonal and permanent crops. A total area of 1,499 dunums has been confiscated
from the town population for Israeli settlement construction.
Agricultural production in the town depends mostly on rainwater.
The most common crop cultivated within this area is white cabbage. A total
rain-fed area of 5,000 dunums are planted with olive trees.
Following Oslo Interim Agreement, 141,682 dunums, accounting for 74.1%
of the total area of the town, were classified as area C. A total of 46,589
dunums (accounting for 24.4% of the total area of the town) was classified as
nature reserves.
Following Israeli occupation in 1967, Israel confiscated 1,436
dunums belonging to the town for the construction of Tekoa, Mshoki Dargot and
Mizpe Shalem settlements and six other settlement outposts.
Tekoa settlement was established in 1977 on a total area of 1,071
dunums confiscated from the town. Settlers have frequently attacked
Palestinians shepherds grazing their sheep on their land adjacent to the
settlements and torched olive orchards.
K.F./T.R.
