Agricultural Structures Targeted in the village of Wad Rahal / Bethlehem Governorate

February 8, 2021

• Violation: halt of work order targets an agricultural room and a cistern.
• Location: Khallet Al-Nahleh – Wadi Rahal / Bethlehem Governorate.
• Date: Febreuary 8^th 2021.
• Perpetrator: the so-called Israeli Civil Administration.
• victims: family of Jihad Al-Fawaghra.

Descriptions:

Under the protection of the occupation army, an officer from the Israeli Civil Administration stormed the area of Khallat al-Nahleh on Monday, February 8^th 2021, and gave a halt of work notice to citizen Jihad Al-Fawaghra for an agricultural room and a cistern on the pretext of building without a license.

And according to what appears on the map above, the targeted agricultural land is located near the route of the Separation Wall, which confiscated 123 dunums of the land in the Wadi Rahal area. Hence, the occupation’s intention is to confiscate more Palestinian citizens’ lands in order to expand their colonies through the use of means that restrict the Palestinians and give Israelis large areas of empty land. This is what was mentioned in the Human Rights Watch report issued in April 2021: “One of the common tactics used by the occupation is to declare lands, including private properties belonging to Palestinians, as “state lands. ”Among the more than 675,000 dunums of the state land  that the Israeli authorities have designated for use by third parties in the West Bank, more than 99% of which has been allocated for use by Israeli civilians, according to government data. The seizure of land for the sake of settlements and infrastructure that primarily serves settlers is rapidly continued.

In regards to Mr. Jihad Al-Fawaghra’s case, it must be mentioned that he owns the land and cultivates it continuously, and it is considered a main source of livelihood for his family of 6 members, including 4 children.

The delivered halt of work notice states that the sub-committee will discuss in its session, which will be held on 01/03/2021, the issue of demolishing the building or returning the place to what its previous status. Jihad immediately approached a legal institution to follow up the case and prepare a legal file in order to protect the facilities from demolition, and prove his right to freely use his property.

The following table shows more information about the targeted structures:

A glimpse on Rahal village:

Wadi Rahal village is located 12 km to the south of Bethlehem, and it is bordered to the north by the village of Artas, to the west by the village of Wadi al-Nis, “Efrat settlement”, to the east by the villages of Janata and Hindaza, and from the south by the village of al-Maasara.

Its population is (1819) people, according to the Palestinian central burau of statistics for (2017(. Its total area is 4,131 dunums, of which only 173 dunums are built-up area.

The apartheid wall was built on part of its lands (1235 meters long) , where 123 dunums were looted under its path, and 142 dunums were isolated behind it.

The lands of the village are classified according to the Oslo Agreement as followed:

• Areas classified as B (1,710) dunums.
• Areas classified as C (2,421) dunums.