Taking advantage of the curfew imposed on Al-Arqoub area (an agglomeration of Palestinian villages located at the western side of Bethlehem district such as Husan, Battir, Nahaleen and Wadi Fokin), the Israeli bulldozers accompanied by armed vehicles and Israeli soldiers started on the 4th of August bulldozing vast areas of agricultural lands from Wadi Fokin village. At Muswana vicinity located to the west of the village, the Israeli bulldozers leveled to earth around 36 dunums of olive orchards and vineyards planted with hundreds of trees in addition to 3000 meters of stone retaining walls that have been used to flatten the agricultural lands and avoid soil erosion.
At an opposite vicinity called Khalet Thabit that belong to the lands of the same village, more than sixty Israeli settlers from the nearby Israeli settlements razed and uprooted a large number of trees and plantations. The property of this land goes to 'Atiyeh, Manasra, Sukar, and Al Akra' Families.
On one hand, the Israeli planned activity to violate this Palestinian land comes as a part of the Israel land grab policy to expand the settlement of Betar Ilit which is located at the western side of Bethlehem district inside the West Bank. On the other hand, this activity comes at the time where the current Israeli government has declared a new plan to intensify the settlement activities around the borders of Jerusalem.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
