SALFIT, Friday, May 28, 2021 (WAFA) – Israeli settlers today attacked Palestinian landowners who defended their land against colonial settlement construction in Khirbet Shehadeh, west of the West Bank city of Salfit, according to local sources.
They said that the settlers opened fire towards the Palestinian landlords who attempted to prevent the establishment of a new colonial settlement near Khirbet Shehadeh, located in the eastern outskirts of Deir Istiya village. The area belongs to the residents of Qarawet Bani-Hassan town.
Several weeks ago, settlers erected four wooden rooms on the lands of Deir Istiya villagers, west of the village, as a nucleus for the construction of a new colonial settlement.
Khirbet Shehadeh, which covers some 6,300 dunums [6.3 km2[, is flanked by at least three colonial settlements, namely Novim, Yakir, and Ravava. Settlement construction has blocked the entrances to the area, forcing the landowners to take five hours instead of 50 minutes walking to reach their land they inherited from their fathers.
Israeli occupation authorities and settler mob violence against the Palestinian landowners include discharging untreated wastewater into farmlands, uprooting olive trees, setting fire to farmlands, and flying helicopters over the area to take pictures with the ultimate purpose of expelling the landowners and seizing their land for colonial settlement construction.
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)