Aljazeera.net correspondents
Hebron- Once the dust of the Israeli measures had settled and the closures on the Hebron Governorate in the southern West Bank eased after a week of imposition, with farmers able to reach their lands, the residents discovered the extent of the demolitions carried out by the occupation army and settlers, targeting homes and huts, most of which were agricultural, northwest of the city.
A local official revealed to Tel Aviv Tribune Net that there had been extensive demolition in the “Taybeh” area of the lands of the town of Tarqumiya, including houses and agricultural arbors used by residents while they were on their lands to tend to them.
Last Sunday, three occupation police officers were killed near the Tarqumiya crossing, northwest of Hebron. Despite the martyrdom of the perpetrator of the operation on the same day, the occupation continued to close all roads that are the main lifelines in the governorate, preventing many people – including farmers – from reaching their lands.
18 houses demolished
Tarqumiya Mayor Muhammad Fatafta told Tel Aviv Tribune Net that the data available to him, as of Saturday afternoon, confirms the demolition of 18 houses built of cement and brick, most of which are connected to the electricity grid of the neighbouring town of Tafouh, estimating that there are wider demolitions of agricultural land in the same area.
He explained that the occupation forces have closed all roads and streets and prevented the movement of residents since the shooting near the Tarqumiya checkpoint about a week ago, “which prevented farmers from reaching their fields and lands.” He added that with the easing of the measures and the ability of some citizens to reach their lands, the extent of the crime began to emerge, but the inability to reach the entire area makes it difficult to provide accurate data, “but it is in the dozens.”
Press coverage: A demolition massacre.. The occupation demolishes several homes and facilities in the Taybeh area in the town of Tarqumiya, northwest of Hebron. pic.twitter.com/SDVjy4bRKA
— Quds News Network (@qudsn) September 7, 2024
According to Fatafta, about 10,000 dunams of agricultural land – most of which is planted with almonds and grapes – are located in an area that the occupation declared a closed military zone when it began its aggression on Gaza on October 7, 2023, which made it difficult for its owners to reach it, so it was left without care, especially with the presence of the Adora and Telem settlements in the same area.
According to him, “it is not possible to confirm with certainty whether the army or the settlers carried out the demolition, and the difference is not big. But the area is under the rule and responsibility of the occupation army.”
He pointed out that the area has been subjected to fires four times in recent months by settlers with the aim of returning it to a barren area, and claiming that it is not being used to facilitate its seizure “with the help of their laws.” He considered what is happening “a form of domination, to empty the land under an extremist racist Israeli government.”
settler violence
For his part, Muhammad Tanina, one of the victims of the Israeli demolition, said that the demolition included his home in the Taybeh area, where he owns a plot of agricultural land. He added to Tel Aviv Tribune Net that the house has been inhabited and built for decades, and that he has a decision after a previous legal battle in the Israeli courts not to demolish it.
He pointed out that he uses his house – which is about 60 square meters – constantly and is there permanently for 4 months of the year when grapes are harvested, indicating that the house “is connected to the electricity grid and has a refrigerator, a washing machine, and all the housing needs, and yet it was demolished, and he was able to find out about that today.”
Tanina suggested that settlers carried out the demolition, recalling a series of attacks they have carried out in the area, including cutting down trees, burning land, and attacking farmers. He said that the demolition extended to dozens of other houses and homes, “including modern, luxurious homes that their owners built over the years.”
to exploit
Since the beginning of the aggression on Gaza last October until the end of last August, the occupation demolished 155 facilities in Hebron, 90 of which were inhabited, including fixed and movable housing, according to data from the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission.
The ongoing settler attacks since the beginning of this year throughout the West Bank have also led to the displacement of more than 28 Bedouin communities, in which 311 families resided, from their places of residence to other places, according to the same source.
Since the beginning of 2024, the Authority has monitored nearly 1,760 attacks carried out by settlers, which led to the martyrdom of 9 citizens in various areas of the Palestinian territories.
According to estimates by the Israeli Peace Movement, about 700,000 settlers live in the West Bank, including Jerusalem.
In a report published last July, it said that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “exploited the circumstances since October 7 to create new facts on the ground in the West Bank, accelerated the confiscation and annexation of lands, and established more than 25 new settlement outposts there.”