The losses are estimated at millions of shekels.. Settlers demolish 50 agricultural rooms south of Qalqilya

SadaNews: Settlers today, Sunday, demolished agricultural homes in the Arab Khouli community located east of the town of Kafr Thulth south of Qalqilya city.

The mayor of Kafr Thulth, Jihad Odeh, stated that settlers, accompanied by a bulldozer, stormed the community and began demolishing 50 agricultural rooms belonging to the Khouli and Maqbel families, constructed from stones, iron, and zinc sheets, occupying an area estimated at about 30 dunams of agricultural land, within a total area of about 1700 dunams planted with ancient olive trees and wheat crops.

He explained that the Arab Khouli community has recently faced continuous assaults by settlers, including physical attacks and repeated harassment, which prompted residents to leave the area under the threat of colonizers and to move to the neighboring town of Kafr Thulth, while still continuing to daily tend to their lands despite not residing there.

He noted that the demolitions resulted in losses estimated at millions of shekels due to the destruction of agricultural rooms and the damage to crops.

For his part, Bashar Shawahna, head of the farmer services department at the Qalqilya Directorate of Agriculture, told the official agency that the area is considered one of the fertile agricultural lands that residents have relied on for farming and livestock raising as a primary source of livelihood and stability for over 80 years. However, the repeated assaults by colonizers have significantly decreased the population presence in the area, leaving only 10 families out of the 25 that resided there since 1948.

Shawahna confirmed that these practices aim to pressure farmers and force them to leave their lands, as part of policies targeting agricultural presence in the region and imposing new realities on the ground.

The Arab Khouli community is located in an area known as Khirbat Ayoun Kafr Qara, surrounded by eight settlements; from the north lie the settlements of "Maalot Shomron" and "Shafi Shomron", from the east "El Matin" and "Janat Shomron", from the south "Nuvim", "Yakir", "Emmanuel", and "Karni Shomron", with the western entrance leading to the town of Kafr Thulth being the only access point for the residents of the community.