Maale Shomron puts hand on a piece of land in Qalqiliya

August 5, 2014

Violation: a confiscation order served on a land

Date: 05/08/2014

Location: Azzun and Kfar Thulth town/ Qalqiliya

Perpetrators : the army of the Israeli occupation

Victims: a number of famers from the two towns

Details:

The army commander of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank issued an order to put hand on 11.769 dunum from the lands of Azzun al-Shamalyeih and Kfar Thulth, east of Qalqiliya governorate.

According to the military order no. (T/20/12) issued on 05/08/2014 with the map attached to it, the purpose behind this order is to set up a segregating fence around the periphery of Maale Shomron colony for the sake of reinforcing its security level. This fence is the second of a type after the one set up in 2000.

Photo of the military order attached with maps

Photo3: Maale Shomron colony with the surrounding fence

The targeted lands are located on parts of Azzun lands within the natural blocks no.(10,12,13) ; in the locations of al-Kafan, Harikt al-Kafan, and Harikat Farha. In addition to that, the natural block no.6 from the lands of Kfar Thulth; locations of al-Kafan , al-Hrybeih , and Khirbet el-Jam'in was also targeted, taking into consideration that the major part of the targeted lands are private properties while the other part is considered State lands as claimed by the occupation.

Legal follow-up:

The member of Azzun municipality Hassan Shbaita to the LRC researcher asserted the following: "There is a constant legal follow-up in coordination with the governorate office of Qalqiliya. An attorney was hired by our side to object the confiscation order in Israel Supreme Court but no verdict has been issued on that and we are still hoping to hear good news".

Maale Shomron: a threat on the Palestinian land and environment:

It should be indicated that the colony of Maale Shomron was established in 1980 on the agricultural lands classified as State Lands. Shortly after, the colony expanded to confiscate tens of agricultural dunums that are of private property for the villages of Azzun, Kfar Thulth and Laqif from Qalqiliya governorate and the town of Deir Istiya from Salfit governorate.

In 2001, the army of the occupation served a number of military orders for the sake of reinforcing the colony's security through setting up checkpoints in the periphery. This comes in synchronization with building the segregation fence that destroyed tens of agricultural lands planted with olive. Noteworthy, the segregated lands behind the fence became subject for colonial activities such like opening parks, gardens, and governmental buildings. This was intended for the sake of colony's development.

The detailed master plan of the colony issued on 13/06/2014 was a means of imposing the de facto policy and enforcing the colonial presence on the lands, which were expropriated under the pretext of "security purposes". For further information about the master plan, please read through the report issued by the Department of Monitoring Israeli Violations- Land Research center "Advertisement about depositing a master plan for Maale Shomron" ( Ar, Eng)

Today, the occupation issues an order to expropriate more lands for the sake of changing the Palestinian landmarks of the area and severing all futuristic expansion works.

About Azzun Atma :

8km from Qalqiliya city, Azzun town is located. The town has a total land area of 9,472 dunums of which 1,054 dunum is built-up area and has a total population of 7,821 people until 2007.

The occupation expropriated hundreds of dunums for the favor of the colonization and the apartheid wall as follows:

276 dunum was confiscated for the favor of Maale Shomron (established in 1980).
417 dunum was expropriated for the favor of the bypass road no.55( 4173 m).
1,205 dunum was segregated behind the apartheid wall that has already damaged hundreds of dunums as for its construction.

It should be marked that most of Azzun lands are classified as area C according to Oslo Accord and has no A classification on it. The classifications are as follows: