The occupation expels a farmer from his land and confiscates building material in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron

April 12, 2021

• Violation: a farmer expelled from his land and building material confiscated. .
• Violation date: 12/04/2021.
• Location: Wadi Al-Wahadin – Beit Ummar town / Hebron governorate.
• Perpetrators: the occupation army and the Israeli Civil Administration.
• Affected party:  citizen Samir Al-Sulaibi.

The violation details:

On April 12, 2021, the Israeli occupation army and colonists expelled citizen Samir Abdullah Al-Sulaibi from his agricultural land in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, and confiscated agricultural building material in his possession.

Farmer Al-Sulaibi, 55 years, gave LRC’s field worker the following account: “I own a plot of land of about 4 dunums in the Wadi al-Wahadin area south of the town, which located 40-50 meters away from the “Karmie Tzur” colony. I planted it with grape trees about 10 years ago, and I take care of it permanently. Every season I reap its fruits despite the harassment of the occupation and the colonizers. This year I uprooted the grape trees from the ground, in order to plant it with covered vegetables,  therefore, I purchased 70 metal pipes to be used in the construction of an agricultural greenhouse. But, while I was working on my land along with one of my sons, a number of colonists attacked me, verbally abused me and tried to push me out of my land. Then, the colony’s security guard joined them, followed by a number of occupation soldiers. Up on arrival the occupation soldiers demanded that I should leave the site immediately, claiming that it was un-allowed for me to enter or work in my land without a permit. However, I refused to do so, and told them that I own this land since ancient times, and I obtain the ownership papers for it. In response, the occupation soldiers detained me and my son for about 4 hours before we were released. Before the occupation soldiers left the site, they had summoned the so-called Civil Administration personnel, who confiscated the 70 metal pipes, and loaded them onto a cart pulled by one of the Civil Administration’s vehicles, without giving me a written seizure report of the material whose cost is estimated at 15,000 shekels”.

It should be noted that the settlement of “Karmie Tzur” which was built on parts of the confiscated lands of Beit Ummar, overlooks the valley El Wahadin area. And the colonists frequently attack Palestinian land owners and farmers whilst tending their vineyards to force them out of their lands in favor of the expansion of the colony.

A glimpse on the town of Beit Ummar[1]:

The town of Beit Ummar is located 12 km to the north of the city of Hebron.  Its total area is 21,285 dunums, of which 1,375 dunums are built up zone. The population of the town is 16,977 according to the statistics of 2017. The Israeli occupation confiscated 560.5 dunums of its land in favor of bypass road No. 60, and also confiscated 1,216 dunums for the benefit of the following settlements:

[1] Field work by LRC’s GIS unit

Prepared by

 The Land Research Center
LRC