QALQILYA, Wednesday, June 10, 2020 (WAFA) – Israeli authorities today issued military orders to seize a large tract of Palestinian land in the northern West Bank district of Qalqilya, said a local source.
Mohammad Abu al-Sheikh, who monitors settlement activities in Qalqilya district, told WAFA that Israeli forces handed scores of Palestinian residents of Qalqilya city, as well as to Qalqilya- district villages of Habla and Nabi Elias orders, informing them about their intention to seize 160 dunums of their land.
The land slated for takeover is partially separated by Israel’s aparthied wall, added al-Sheikh.
According to the Israeli anti-settlement group, Peace Now, “Over the years, Israel has used a number of legal and bureaucratic procedures in order to appropriate West Bank lands, with the primary objective of establishing settlements and providing land reserves for them.”
“Using primarily these five methods: seizure for military purposes; declaration of state lands; seizure of absentee property; confiscation for public needs; and initial registration, Israel has managed to take over about 50% of the lands in the West Bank, barring the local Palestinian public from using them.”
K.F.
