Resistance to the Wall and Settlement: 1965 Violations Committed by the Army and Settlers in February

SadaNews - Minister Mouayad Shaaban, head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority, stated that Israeli occupation forces and settlers carried out a total of 1965 violations during February, continuing the series of ongoing terrorism by the occupying state against the Palestinian people, their lands, and properties.

Shaaban clarified in the Authority's monthly report "Violations of the Occupation and Colonial Expansion Measures" that the Israeli army carried out 1454 violations, while settlers committed 511 violations. The majority of violations occurred in the Hebron governorate with 421 violations, followed by Nablus with 340 violations, Ramallah and Al-Bireh with 320 violations, and Jerusalem with 210 violations.

He noted that the violations varied between direct physical assaults, uprooting trees, burning fields, seizing property, and demolishing houses and agricultural facilities, while the occupation forces close vast areas of Palestinian land under the pretext of 'security', enabling settlers to expand within it.

He stated that these escalating violations confirm that what is happening is not isolated incidents but rather an organized methodology aimed at emptying the land from its owners and imposing a comprehensive racist colonial system.

A Wave of Terrorist Attacks by Settlers and Uprooting of 1314 Trees

Shaaban indicated that the settlers' violations, which reached 511, marked one of the peaks of settlers' terrorism targeting Palestinian villages and Bedouin communities, focusing in Hebron with 138 violations, Nablus with 121 violations, and Ramallah with 98 violations.

Shaaban emphasized that the overall figures for February indicate a dangerous phase of organized escalation, as settlers' violations are no longer isolated events or arbitrary reactions but have transformed into an integrated field policy targeting land, people, and the components of Palestinian existence. He added that what we are witnessing today is a systematic attempt to reshape geography by force, through striking sources of livelihood, terrorizing Bedouin communities, and creating a repulsive environment that pushes citizens towards forced displacement under the pressure of daily violence.

He confirmed that we are still facing a clear pattern of coordinated action occurring under the protection of occupation troops, revealing the integration of roles between the official occupation apparatus and settler militias. They convey clear political messages aimed at imposing permanent realities on the ground and thwarting any possibility of establishing a geographically connected Palestinian state.

He added that settlers executed 355 acts of sabotage and theft targeting Palestinian properties, affecting vast areas of land. The settlers' attacks, assisted by the occupation army, resulted in the uprooting, destruction, and poisoning of 1314 trees, including 1054 olive trees, in the governorates of Ramallah (731 trees), Bethlehem (200 trees), Hebron (183 trees), Nablus (180 trees), and Tulkarem (20 trees).

Attempts to Establish 5 New Colonial Outposts

He pointed out that since the beginning of February, settlers have attempted to establish 5 new colonial outposts, primarily agricultural and pastoral in nature, distributed in attempts to establish two outposts each in Hebron and Nablus, and one outpost in Tubas.

Shaaban affirmed that the escalation of attempts to establish colonial outposts in recent months can only be the result of clear instructions from the political echelons of the occupying state to impose facts on the ground and further fragment Palestinian geography. The settlers play the role of enacting change on the ground, while the official level translates this change into a reality through legislation, validation, and turning it into a colonial site that enjoys all services.

Seizing 2022 Dunams of Citizens' Land

Shaaban stated that the occupation authorities seized a total of 2022 dunams of citizens' land in February through a series of military orders, noting that the authorities issued a total of 8 orders to seize land for military purposes, through which they seized an area of 21.5 dunams.

He added that the occupation authorities confirmed measures to appropriation the archaeological site in Sebastia through a military order numbered 26/1, which mandates the seizure of a total of 2000.068 dunams of the archaeological site in the largest archaeological seizure operation witnessed in Palestinian territories.

Demolishing 122 Facilities and Issuing Orders to Demolish 49 Others

He indicated that the occupation authorities carried out 72 demolition operations during February, affecting 122 facilities, including 56 inhabited homes, 9 uninhabited homes, 34 agricultural facilities, and 18 sources of livelihood, concentrated in Jerusalem governorate with 46 facilities, Hebron with 38 facilities, followed by Tubas with 9 demolitions, then Jenin.

Shaaban noted that the occupation authorities distributed 49 demolition notices for Palestinian facilities, continuing the series of constriction on Palestinian construction and natural growth of villages and towns, which is intensively translated these days into demolitions, with notices concentrated in Bethlehem with 22 notices, 10 in Hebron, 8 in Jerusalem, 3 in Tulkarem, 2 each in Tubas and Salfit, and one in each of Jenin and Ramallah.

Reviewing 22 Structural Plans for Settlements

He added that planning authorities in the occupying state studied a total of 22 structural plans for the benefit of West Bank settlements and within the municipal boundaries occupied in Jerusalem, including 13 structural plans for West Bank settlements and 4 plans for settlements within the municipal boundaries occupied in Jerusalem.

He explained that these authorities approved 7 structural plans for West Bank settlements, submitted 5 additional plans for subsequent approval, and included 48 units while approving the construction of 642 new settlement units on an estimated area of 1154.5 dunams.

Meanwhile, the municipality of occupation in Jerusalem approved 3 structural plans for Jerusalem settlements and submitted 6 additional plans for subsequent approval related to settlements within the municipal boundaries occupied in Jerusalem, totaling 613 settlement units, on an area estimated at 316.45 dunams of citizens' lands.

Shaaban indicated that the maps attached to the structural plans indicate the occupation's approval for establishing a large settlement neighborhood pertaining to the settlement of (Asfar/Matsad), built on citizens' lands in Al-Shuyukh in the Hebron governorate, through the approval of the structural plan numbered (יוש/ 3/ 2/ 414), which aims to build 509 new settlement units on an area of 342 dunams of citizens' lands.

The maps attached to the structural plans also indicate the occupation's approval for establishing a settlement neighborhood for the Kfar Nuhad settlement built on citizens' lands in Yasuf village in the Salfit governorate, through the approval of the structural plan numbered (יוש/ 1/ 3/ 131), which aims to build 133 new settlement units on an area of 118 dunams of citizens' lands.