Violation: Confiscation of 40 dunums of land for military purposes as claimed
Location: Villages of Deir Sharaf and an-Naqura/ Nablus governorate
Date: 03/07/2014
Perpetrators: The Israeli occupation army
Victims: People of the two villages
Detail:
On July 03, 2014, the Israeli military sent, via the Palestinian Israeli District Coordination Office, handed the Palestinian party a military order no. (T/19/14) that calls for a land takeover, placing the Army’s hands on a 15.9 dunum piece of land for military purposes as the Israeli occupation Army High Commander in the West Bank claimed. According to the order, the following natural blocks would be confiscated:
- Block no. 10 of Deir Sharaf lands. Parcels: 32,36,38,39,27,40.
- Block no. 12 of An-Naqura lands. Parcels: 114,115,116,117,118.
Picture 1: The Military order
Picture 2: Aerial photo of the location (the targeted area is in light green). It should be marked that the map belong to the village council and not to the Israeli occupation.
The area of the confiscated land is much more than what is stated in the order:
Mr. Muhammad Kayid, head of Deir Sharaf village council, told an LRC observer that: "The actual area of the targeted land is much larger than what is stated in the order. It is no less than 40 dunums."
The targeted piece of land is located north of Shavei Shomron and it has been secluded since 2000 and annexed to the colony as 'security borders'. Property owners and farmers are denied access to the land except in specific times of the year, like the olive harvesting season, when they are allowed to spend a few hours only after getting a permission from the Israeli occupation authorities.
The military order has now destroyed any chance of farmers visiting their land and has provided, meanwhile, the colonists with a chance to expand their colony on Palestinian property.
Shavei Shomron:
Built on the debris of a Jordanian military camp, to the north of Nablus and 8km away from it, Sabastiya and Deir Sharaf.
In 1967, the Israeli army seized the Jordanian military base and turned it into a military outpost where soldiers gathered and dispersed to attack nearby villages and harass Palestinians.
In 1977, the nature of the military outpost began to change when prefabricated houses were added and colonists started living there. The base soon turned into a colony that kept expanding. It has confiscated 200 dunums so far and is inhabited by 631 colonists. In 2005, the Israeli occupation forces embarked on building a security barrier surrounding Shavei Shomron which caused the confiscation of hundreds of dunums of agricultural lands from Sabastiya and Deir Sharaf villages.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
