Israeli Occupation Forces Expands its Siege on Residents of Azzun Atma – Qalqiliya Governorate

Location

The village of Azzun Atma is located 10 kilometers south west of the city of Qalqiliya and about 3 kilometers away from the Green Line. The village's total land area is 8081, including 798 as built up area. It has a population number of 1250. See Map 1

Map 1: Location of Azzun Atma- Qalqiliya

Recent siege measures

Israeli occupation forces began in April 2006 a series of aggressive steps against the residents of the village living inside the Wall with the aim of increasing the siege on them as to force them to leave. Such steps include the following:

• Preventing all types of fuel from entering the village under the pretext that people do not have the appropriate permits for its entry. Israeli occupation forces indicated that a permit must be granted from the occupation authorities to allow such materials to enter the village.

• Preventing residents from getting any eggs or chicken into the village under the pretext of the presence of avian flu cases.

• Reducing and quantifying the amount of meats allowed into the village under the pretext that most of the meats are smuggled into Israel through the village.

• Denying entry of any type of agricultural fertilizers into the village under the alleged reason that such materials are used in manufacturing explosives. That prevention is taking place despite the fact that the material is essential to the agricultural sector in the village where more than 800 greenhouses do exist and they depend largely on these fertilizers for producing good crops. It is worth noting that agriculture is the main source of income for hundreds of families in the village and the nearby localities.

• Israeli occupation forces manning entrances to the village prevent the entry of basic dietary and commercial items into the village via searching each item to the degree that some trucks download its cargo at the gate for the sake of searching it and then re-load them into the truck after long periods of time.

• Israeli occupation forces started since the beginning of May 2006, a survey campaign aimed at counting the number of people who cross through the gate 48 on daily basis. Similar campaigns were carried out in the past aimed at registering all those who live in the village.

The Village and the Israeli Segregations Wall

The village is a living witness of the occupation�s racism and barbarism as exemplified by the Israeli Segregation Wall as it surrounds the village from the northern and northeastern directions. As from the western direction, there exist the settlement of Oranit and the settlement of Sha�ari Tiqva in addition to the Trans Samaria Highway from the southern direction.

The length of the Wall established on the lands of the village since 2003 is about 1.5 kilometers with a width of 60 â�� 80 meters. It separates between the village and its immediate Palestinian environs. The Wall isolated behind it about 700 dunums that belong to Palestinians from the village as well as from the villages of Beit Amin and Sanniriya. In addition, it isolated more than 1750 Palestinians from their Palestinian vicinity and turned their lives into a living hell.    

Settlements are a Source of Threat

The settlement of Oranit which surrounds the village of Azzun Atma from the western direction and was built on lands belonging to the villages of Azzun Atma, Beit Amin and Sanniriya, and the settlement of Sha�ari Tiqva which surrounds the village Azzun Atma from the southern direction andwas built on lands belonging to Palestinians from the villages of Az Zawiya, Masha, Sanniriya and Azzun Atma are considered to be a major source of threat to the residents of the village of Azzun Atma in humanitarian and demographic terms.; the number of settlers, according to the latest statistics, has reached 12,000 surrounding about 1250 Palestinians living in the village of Azzun Atma. It is worth noting that some settlement houses are located only about 10 meters away from Palestinian houses in Azzun Atma separated only by an electrified fence. In addition, the above-mentioned settlements control around 40,000 dunums of lands belonging to the aforementioned villages.

Photo 1: The Segregation Wall route and the  entrance Shaâ��ari Tiqva
settlement to the west of Azzun Atma

It is note worthy to mention that Israeli occupation forces established a gate in the Wall that carries number 48 to be only used by the residents of Azzun Atma who carry the appropriate permits. The gate opens between 4 AM until 10 PM after which the gate closes transferring, in the process, the village into one big prison.

(Photo 2: gate number 48 leading to Azzun Atma- Qalqiliya)

Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC