JORDAN VALLEY, Friday, March 29, 2019 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers planted olive trees in pasture land belonging to Palestinians in al-Farisya village, east of Tubas in the northern Jordan Valley, raising fear among the Palestinian residents of an impending seizure of their land for the benefit of settlers.

Aref Daraghmeh, a local rights activist, said a number of settlers stormed the pasture area in al-Farisiya village, which is located near the illegal Israeli settlement of  ‘Rotem‘ and proceeded to plant dozens of olive trees there.

According to the Palestinian human rights organization, Al-Haq, since the beginning of its military occupation in 1967, the Israeli authorities have been systematically appropriating Palestinian land for the establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley, as well as unlawfully exploiting Palestinian natural resources in the area.

“Through these practices, the Israeli authorities continue to illegally exercise sovereign rights over the Jordan Valley and create facts on the ground with the intent of forcibly transferring the Palestinian population from the Jordan Valley and permanently annexing the land,” said al-Haq.

Israel, which keeps full military and civilians control over the Jordan Valley and Area C of the West Bank, seeks to uproot all Palestinians living there while it builds new settlements for Jews.

T.R.