RAMALLAH: Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are accusing pastoral Israeli settlements of depriving local herdsmen and farmers of access to their land.
Despite Israeli court rulings to demolish and evacuate the outposts of shepherd settlers, they are rebuilding them.
Muraweh Abdul-Haq, a farmer from the Palestinian town of Sinjil, told Arab News that armed shepherd settlers are grazing their sheep on more than 1,000 dunums of the town’s land, part of which he owns. Settlers have broken his hand and used pepper spray on him, requiring him to be hospitalized.
Abdul-Haq said he and several landowners in Sinjil filed a complaint against the settlers through the Palestinian Civilian Liaison office — which deals with Israel — but nothing has happened so far.
FASTFACTS
• Palestinian shepherds were assaulted by settlers on Saturday and had to leave their lands.
• On Friday, Israeli military forces arrested Palestinians from the village of Sika and prevented them from using their lands.
In the West Bank, Israel has established 94 military sites, 176 settlements, 154 outposts, and 60 military and agricultural gates at its separation barrier.
It has also turned 160,000 dunums of private Palestinian land into settlement agricultural facilities.
Palestinian shepherds were assaulted by settlers on Saturday and had to leave their lands. On Friday, Israeli military forces arrested Palestinians from the village of Sika and prevented them from using their lands.
Ghassan Daglas, who is in charge of the settlements file in the northern West Bank for the Palestinian presidency, told Arab News that vast areas of Palestinian land where settlers graze their livestock cannot be used by Palestinians otherwise they would be physically assaulted.
Israeli settlements on occupied Arab land are illegal under international law and violate several UN Security Council resolutions, the most recent of which — 2334 — was issued in December 2017.
