Israeli Occupation Forces isolate Palestinian lands, destruct water pipelines and open colonial roads in Tubas governorate

Violation:  vicious Israeli measures

Location:  Sahel Al-Bikai'a- Tubas

Date:  November 13, 2017

Perpetrators: Israeli Occupation Forces

Victims:  residents of the area

 

Details:

In mid-November 2017, the Israeli occupation army began implementing new measures aimed at tightening control over the area of Sahel Al-Bikai'a. Measures were seen in chasing farmers, confiscating their machineries and imposing fines on them. Not only, the occupation  implemented  new means to facilitate the movement of Israeli Occupation Forces in the area and to restrict citizens and farmers'  movement there.

 

Photos 1-3: the targeted area of Sahel Al-Bikai'a

Destruction of a section of an agricultural road serving some Palestinian lands and the construction of an occupation military road serving the occupation army:

 On the morning of Monday, October 13, 2017, the Israeli army began to destroy a section of an agricultural road connecting Sahel Al-Bikai'a  area with Al-Ras Al-Ahmar Bedouin community. The destroyed section is 300 meters long and 4 meters wide; it was implemented in 2006 through the Union of Agricultural Work Committees  to serve the farmers sector in the region and to facilitate Bedouins'  movement in the area.

Photo 4: The destroyed road that serves some agricultural lands

Not only  the occupation destroys the agricultural roads that serve thousands of dunums of agricultural land but it also threatens the roads that are being rehabilitated and opened to serve the Palestinians and their agricultural lands and confiscates the machineries that are used for  construction and rehabilitation of these roads and sometimes arrests and fine their owners.

At the same time the occupation destroyed a section of a road in Sahel Al-Bikai'a, it opened a  new military road (1 km long * 6 meters wide). The main objective of this route is to facilitate the arrival of the Israeli army patrols to the Al-Ras Al-Ahmar community and the agricultural areas in order to tighten the siege on Palestinian farmers and confiscate their equipment and tools.

Photos 5-6: The recently opened military road

• Destruction of water pipelines:

 It is noteworthy that the Israeli occupation army destructed-  during the construction of the new military road- some water pipelines (700 meters *  6 inches)  owned by Al Baqaia company for agricultural development. The targeted pipelines were used to irrigate at least 250 dunums planted with onions.

 

 

 

Photos 7-12: the  destroyed pipelines

• Isolation of new agricultural areas:

 In addition to the above-mentioned, the army of the occupation set up a new military gate to the north-east of the military trench,  east of Sahel Al-Bikai'a, more specifically  in the area known as "Alkhallat."

 The new plan, which is behind this step, is the completion of a previous plan, which began in 2000, through the construction of two iron gates and a trench along the bypass road known as "Alon". Today, the occupation is constructing a third iron gate north of the trench. As a result, farmers will not be able to use dozens of agricultural dunums northeast of Sahel Al-Bikai'a  area and will render their areas inaccessible.

Picture 13-14: The new iron gate with earth mounds

It should be noted that the Israeli occupation established in 2000 a trench (2 km* 3 m *4 m) in order to take over the entire area of Sahel Al-Bikai'a  and to restrict the movement of farmers from and to the Sahhel,  ”plains". The inevitable result is the isolation of at least 40,000 dunums of the area from a total of  98,800 dunums to the west of the trench.

 

Prepared by
 The Land Research Center
LRC