BETHLEHEM, March 29, 2018 (WAFA) - Israeli Jewish settlers closed on Thursday rural roads leading to agricultural land in the town of al-Khader to the south of Bethlehem to prevent Palestinian farmers from reaching their land, according to a local source.

Ahmad Salah, coordinator of anti-wall and anti-settlement commission in al-Khader, told WAFA that a group of settlers from Sidi Boaz settlement outpost, built illegally on Palestinian-owned land, closed the road with dirt mounds, rocks and construction remnants.

He said the settlers repeatedly close the roads in an attempt to force the Palestinian farmers to abandon their land. However, the farmers reopened the access road.

Sidi Boaz, also known as Nevi Daniel North, was illegally established in 2002 when settlers from the illegal Nevi Daniel settlement took over a hilltop about 1.5 kilometers north of Nevi Daniel, and since then they started harassing people and closing roads repeatedly in an attempt to force its Palestinian owners to leave their lands for the settlers.

C.K./M.K.