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Bethlehem, the occupied West Bank– The small Palestinian village of Kisan sits on the rugged and picturesque hills of the occupied West Bank. Israeli land theft and settler attacks have intensified in recent months.
Kisang is located about 18 kilometers (11 miles) south of Bethlehem and is surrounded by several illegal Israeli settlements and outposts, including Ma’ale Amos, Mizpe Shalem and Abei Hanahal, which were built on the ground from Palestine. Large private land requisitioned there.
According to the Separation Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee, a few weeks ago, Israel announced that it would confiscate hundreds of hectares of village land in the southeast and turn it into a “natural reserve”.
In May, local media Report The Israeli army informed the village that a new settlement would be built on the land west of the village, after which the settlers began to level the land. In late June, residents Report The area built 20 mobile homes for settlers with an estimated area of more than 50 dunams (5 hectares).
The 600 residents of the town are subjected to violence by Israeli settlers living nearby almost every day, and some children have been deliberately targeted by settlers on the roads to injure them. According to Israeli media reports, settlers accused Palestinian children of throwing stones at them.
“It’s scary to walk to school and come back, because there are always problems,” a male student, Mohamed Ata Abbiat, told Al Jazeera.
Kisang is surrounded by several illegal Israeli settlements and outposts built on large tracts of private land expropriated from Palestinian owners [Al Jazeera]From Layla Ghazzal’s balcony overlooking the valley, you can see the Abei Hanahal outpost on the next hilltop. Her family, including 10 children between the ages of 5 and 25, have all experienced violence by settlers who have stepped down from the outpost.
“Last year, my 20-year-old son Muhammad was working at a nearby construction site when he was attacked by four settlers at night,” Laila told Al Jazeera.
“They tried to stab him in the head, and when he raised his arm to resist the attack, his arm was cut and he had to go to the hospital for stitches,” she continued.
“At about the same time, another 16-year-old boy, Bilal Said, was run over by a settler’s car and broke his leg.”
According to the latest humanitarian report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), since September 7, Israeli settlers have launched 11 attacks on Palestinian civilians. As of 2021, there have been 290 settler attacks on Palestinians causing property damage, and 93 attacks causing casualties.
In early September, settlers from Abei Hanahal uprooted 50 olive tree seedlings, residents of Kisan Said. Palestinians who tried to take care of their farmland also suffered from settler violence.
Ibrahim Ghazal, the brother of Kisang’s deputy mayor Ahmed Ghazal, told Al Jazeera, “We never know when the next settler attack will happen.”
A month ago, when villager Hussein Abiat and his sons were inspecting a piece of land they had rented from a Palestinian owner for farming, settlers attacked them.
Ahmed told Al Jazeera: “They were beaten on the head, arms and legs, causing bleeding and fractures, and they had to be taken to the hospital, where they were held for five days.”
Land forfeiture
The Land Research Center is a Palestinian organization that monitors, supports and protects Palestinian land. It stated that Israel has expropriated thousands of dunums of land in Kisan village over the years.
According to the 1993 Oslo Agreement, the occupied West Bank is divided into Zone C, which occupies 60% of the occupied territory. It is completely controlled by Israel, Zone B is under the joint control of Palestine and Israel, and Zone A is managed by the Palestinian Authority.
These agreements are only intended to last for five years before the establishment of a Palestinian state.
About 11% of Kisan are put In addition to being a nature reserve, 40% is under Palestinian management and Israeli security control, while the rest belong to Zone C or completely Israeli control.
Layla Ghazzal (left) and her daughter Tamam (center) in Kisan Village [Al Jazeera]The Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem stated that Israel’s planning and construction policies in the West Bank are aimed at preventing the development of the Palestinians and depriving them of their land.
The organization wrote: “Israel believes that Area C is for its own needs, such as military training, economic benefits, and settlement development.”
“Ignoring the needs of the Palestinians, Israel actually prohibits the construction and development of Palestinians. At the same time, it encourages the development of Israeli settlements through a parallel planning mechanism, while the civil affairs department turns a blind eye to the construction violations of the settlers.”
As Israel continues to rapidly expropriate West Bank land, expand existing settlements, approve new outposts, and turn a blind eye to settlers building new caravans on Palestinian land, it is almost impossible for Palestinians living in Area C to obtain necessities. The Israeli authorities have a building permit for any building.
Any Palestinian infrastructure built without these permits is destroyed almost daily by the Civil Administration, which is the branch of the army that controls most of the West Bank.
B’Tselem stated that this is part of a broader political agenda aimed at maximizing the use of West Bank resources to meet Israeli needs while minimizing the land reserves available to the Palestinians.
“Although planning and construction laws benefit the Jewish communities by regulating development and balancing different needs, when they are applied to Palestinian communities in the West Bank, their purposes are completely opposite… There, Israel uses laws to prevent development, obstruct planning and Demolition.”
Back on Laila’s balcony, she said, “The night is terrible.”
“We are all living worrying about what will happen to our land and for the safety of our children.”
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