Israeli occupation forces continued today to level Palestinian-owned land reportedly to open a road that will be used by the military near the entrance to Hizma town, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, according to one of the landowners.
Mohammed Salah Eddin, one of the landowners, said Israeli forces placed today a tent at the entrance to the town of Hizma, while its bulldozers continued to level land belonging to Palestinian residents to open a one-kilometer-long and 16-meters-wide road that will be used by the military.
He warned that the Israeli plan for the area may not stop here; warning of Israel’s apparent intentions to take control of hundreds of dunums of Palestinian lands in the area, calling on the town residents to remain steadfast on their land and face the Israeli attempts.
According to the Israeli anti-settlement group, Peace Now, “Over the years, Israel has used a number of legal and bureaucratic procedures in order to appropriate West Bank lands, with the primary objective of establishing settlements and providing land reserves for them.”
“Using primarily these five methods: seizure for military purposes; declaration of state lands; seizure of absentee property; confiscation for public needs; and initial registration, Israel has managed to take over about 50% of the lands in the West Bank, barring the local Palestinian public from using them.”
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency