Israel bars thousands of Palestinians from traveling abroad; many other don’t even bother to make the attempt

15 May 2017

Soldiers near the entrance to Allenby Bridge Crossing. Photo by Ronen Zvulun, Reuters, 10 March 2014

Israel controls all West Bank entrance and exit points, so any departure from the West Bank requires Israeli approval. As Israeli authorities by and large deny Palestinians international travel via its sea ports or the Ben Gurion International Airport, the only avenue available to them for travel abroad is the Allenby Bridge Border Crossing, located about 5 kilometers east of Jericho. According to figures by the Palestinian Border and Crossing Authority, 809,559 Palestinians used the Allenby Bridge Crossing in 2015, and 907,825 in 2016.

Israel uses its control over the crossing to deny many West Bank residents travel abroad, keeping them confined to the West Bank for years on end by way of an administrative decision, without any judicial review or explanation. In cases in which officials inform Palestinians who have reached the Allenby Bridge Crossing they cannot go through and must instead return home, they do not inform the travelers what authority made decided on the travel ban or how it can be appealed. Sometimes no explanation whatsoever is given for the refusal; sometimes that the travel ban was imposed for “security reasons”. Other travelers were referred to the Palestinian District Coordination Office (DCO) or the Israel Security Agency (ISA) for an explanation. Testimonies given to B’Tselem indicate that often a single arrest in a person’s past is enough to merit a travel ban that would preclude travel outside the West Bank for many years. In addition, in some cases, the ISA uses the travel ban as leverage to pressure Palestinians to collaborate with Israel.

In most cases, Palestinians traveling abroad do not know if they will actually manage to do so until they reach Allenby Bridge. If Israel has placed them under a ban, they find out only then. While the Civil Administration does have a process in place ostensibly allowing West Bank residents to find out whether they are under a ban prior to travel, many residents are completely unaware of this option. They prepare for the trip, say goodbye to friends and relatives, arrive at the crossing with luggage in hand, and only then, find out it was all for nothing.

Between 2014 and 2016, Israeli human rights NGO HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual filed 476 travel ban appeals to the Civil Administration. In 203 cases, the ban was lifted after the appeal was filed. In 213 of the remaining cases, HaMoked filed High Court petitions, and in 108 of these, the ban was lifted, most even prior to the preliminary court hearing. Overall, in 65% of the cases in which HaMoked challenged a travel ban, the ban was lifted - indicating it had been unjustified in the first place.

Passengers in line, waiting for passport control at Allenby Bridge Crossing. Photo by Ammar Awad, Reuters, 9 July 2009

According to Palestinian Border and Crossing Authority’s figures, in 2016 Israel denied travel abroad to 2,262 West Bank residents who arrived at the Allenby Bridge border crossing. In 2015, the figure was 1,736. Yet these figures cover only the people who came to the crossing and had to turn back. It does not include an untold number of Palestinians who refrained from arriving at Allenby Bridge in the first place due to Israel’s policy, either because they had been denied travel before or because of the chilling effect this policy has.

These travel bans constitute a severe, open-ended sanction. The fact that they are imposed in an undisclosed process without any judicial review further intensifies their impact. This policy directly harms thousands of Palestinians to whom Israel denies travel abroad for no reason, or on the basis of unfounded and unjustifiable arguments, such as that the person has spent time in jail. It also hurts many others who, to begin with, do not even attempt international travel - be it for work or study, visiting family or vacationing. The travel ban policy clearly illustrates Israel’s full control over the lives of all West Bank residents, and their inability to plan and run their lives.

Mu’tasem Jamal Hussein Haimur, 26, lives in Hebron. In testimony he gave to B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bri on 12 December 2016 he recounted how he lost out on a professional opportunity because he refused to collaborate with the ISA:

Mutasem Haimur. Photo courtesy of Haimur I live with my parents and brothers and sisters. I hold down two jobs: painting homes and occasional work as a security guard. I have a degree in network engineering and am a trained computer technician, but since I finished my studies I haven’t managed to find work in my field. My family is in a tough financial situation and have debts to pay. In 2013 I was arrested inside Israel while working there without a permit. I was sentenced to 45 days in prison and a fine of NIS 1,500 [approx. USD 410]. That was the only time I’ve ever been arrested. I want to get married and settle down, but I don’t have any real option of doing so, because I make less than NIS 2,500 [approx. USD 690] a month in my two jobs combined.

In 2015 I got an offer of a job in Saudi Arabia in my field. I successfully completed the online entrance exam and was offered a monthly salary of about 1,000 dinars [approx. USD 1,400], on top of covering my accommodation costs. I was very happy and felt that this was my chance to make something of my life, make my dreams come true, and establish myself professionally. I got all the necessary papers together, including a passport.

When I got to the Israeli side of the bridge, I handed over my documents and a female soldier told me to take a seat and wait. After a while some people in military uniform came and took me into a side room. They sat down in the room and one of them asked me to wait. I waited there until the afternoon. In the meantime, all the other passengers had left and the crossing was closed. Finally, they called me into a room where they told me that I wasn’t allowed to travel. They gave me a paper stating that I must attend a meeting with “Captain Amin” of the ISA.

I went home to Hebron, and three days later I went to meet “Captain Amin” at the Israeli DCO in Hebron. He brought me to a room where he began to interrogate me. He had some paper on the desk in front of him, but I got the impression that he didn’t know that I wanted to travel or abroad or that I had just gotten home. He asked me questions like “Where did you return from?” and “Why did you travel?” I tried to explain that I hadn’t even traveled yet because they hadn’t let me cross the bridge. Then he turned over the sheet in front of him and began to ask me about ISIS, Hamas, and why I wanted to travel.

I explained that I didn’t have any connections to any of these groups and that I wanted to travel because I had found a job. He said that if I wanted his help, I’d have to help him in return. When I asked how I could help him, he said that I needed to cooperate with the ISA. I refused and he told me that there was no other way I could travel so I’d better forget about a trip. I’m very frustrated and disappointed. I lost a job opportunity I had dreamt of all my life. It would have allowed me to build my future, get married, and help my family financially.

Siham Ahmad Khalil Qarib, 62, lives in Tulkarm. In testimony taken by B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi on 28 Dec. 2016, she recounted how she and her family were prevented from attending her son’s wedding in Jordan:

My son Ayman has lived in Jordan for the past eight years. He completed his bachelor’s and master’s degree there, and now he’s working on getting a doctorate in Islamic Law. On 3 April 2015, I traveled to Allenby Bridge with a few of of my children and their spouses to so that we could go to Ayman’s wedding in Jordan. When we got there we handed in our passports and were told to have a seat and wait. After we waited for about two hours, a clerk came out and said that we are not allowed to travel to Jordan, and that this was a decision made by the ISA. I tried to clarify the reason, but the Israeli clerk told me that we needed to turn inquire with the Palestinian DCO in Tulkarm.

We just couldn’t believe that we weren’t being allowed to travel, and that we wouldn’t be able to attend Ayman’s wedding, and to make him happy. The decision denied us our happiness. When we got home, I felt unwell and I had to go to hospital for observation.

Malek Ghaleb Abu ‘Adi, 30, is married and the father of a nine-month-old baby. In testimony given to B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad on 20 February 2017, he told how he and his wife were forced the abandon the trip they planned in honor of their wedding

I work in commerce in the Ramallah area and live in Kafr Ni’ma. On 1 May 2015, I married Sabah Musa, who is originally from the neighboring village of Beit Liqya. To celebrate our marriage, we planned to travel to Mecca for the ‘Umrah pilgrimage, both for pleasure and to fulfill a religious commandment. On 5 May 2015 we received our visas from Saudi Arabia, and three days later, on 8 May 2015, we traveled to Allenby Bridge. We were traveling with a group on a bus and we paid all our travel expenses in advance – approximately 600 Jordanian dinars (approx. NIS 3,000).

We arrived at the Israeli side of Allenby Crossing at about eight o’clock in the morning. We handed our passports to a female soldier who told us to wait. Every 20-30 minutes I went up to the ISA window to ask what was happening and why there was a delay, but they just told me to keep on waiting and didn’t explain what the problem was. All the other passengers on the bus with us went through straightaway – we were the only ones who were delayed. I started to get worried that they’d send us back and not let us travel. After an hour and a half or so I called the person who was responsible for the group and told them to leave and not wait for us, because I could see that it was taking a long time.

Hours went by and nothing changed. We waited in the passenger hall the whole time, sitting on chairs and doing nothing but count the hours and minutes tick by. After over five hours, at about 1:30 P.M., a female soldier came with our passports and told us that we were “prevented from traveling.” I asked her why and she said that the ban had come from the ISA. When I asked why she said, “Go to Beit El and clarify it with them there.” She accompanied us to the returning buses, and only then gave us back our passports.

I was terribly frustrated. I had been so happy before, because we had just gotten married, and I wanted to make my wife happy and go on the ‘Umrah with her. I wanted us to have a good time. We are young and want to enjoy life just like anyone else.

Until then, I had never been prevented from traveling. Before I got married I used to go to Jordan every two or three months to visit my married sister or other relatives, or just for a trip. Even during our engagement, which lasted for a year, I traveled to Jordan without any problem. The last time was on 11 June 2014, and everything was fine.

Two days after we went to Allenby Bridge, I went to the ISA at Beit El to get to the bottom of this. I took my wife’s ID card with me so that I could get answers about us both. This was the first time she’d tried to travel abroad. I also took the written applications we had completed in advance. After waiting for an hour, they told me to go in to one of the clerks there. He took our ID cards, checked on a computer, and told me “you are banned from traveling via Allenby Bridge until August 2016 and your wife is banned until December 2016.”

I handed him the written applications we had prepared and he told me that they wouldn’t do any good, and that I should go to Ofer Camp to clarify the matter. I went out and immediately traveled to Ofer Camp with a letter of referral from the clerk at Beit El. I got there around noon and handed over my identity card. As usual, I was told to wait. Every attempt to clarify anything with the Israelis begins with a long and nerve-wracking wait. I waited for about an hour and a half and then the guard gave me my identity card back. “You’re prevented from traveling.” He wouldn’t let me meet with ISA personnel. I took my ID card and left. I felt that this was my fate and there’s nothing I can do – after all, the Israelis control everything.

Since then, I’ve tried to travel to Jordan several times. I hoped that they might have lifted the ban. On two occasions my wife also accompanied me. The same saga was repeated each time: I handed my passport over to the clerk at the crossing, waited three to five hours, during which time I asked the clerk every half an hour what was happening, and every time was told “wait a bit longer, wait a bit longer.”

My last attempt was on 15 January 2017, when my whole family went to Mecca for the ‘Umrah. They let my parents and my two younger brothers go, but not me. I haven’t tried again since then.

On 1 January 2017, I contacted HaMoked: Center for Defence of the Individual, which handles cases of travel bands Israeli authorities impose on Palestinians. I gave them all the documents and then told me that the processing would take anywhere from 20 days to two months, but they didn’t promise that they’d manage to lift the ban. I haven’t heard back yet.

The travel ban has left me frustrated and in despair. I feel trapped like an animal. Someone else controls my ability to travel from one place to another and denies me one of the most basic rights God-given human rights.

Update: In March 2016 Malek ‘Adi went once more to Allenby Bridge and found that the travel ban had been lifted. He has since travelled abroad several times, including twice with his wife.

‘Omar Jamal Fares Myadmeh, 32, is a teacher who lives in Aqraba, Nablus District. In testimony he gave on 19 March 2017 to B’Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i, he told how a travel ban cost him a chance at a teaching job abroad:

My uncle works in a school in the United Arab Emirates and arranged a work interview for me there. On 1 June 2016 I got to Allenby Bridge in order to travel to Jordan and from there to the Emirates. To my surprise, the official at the bridge kept me waiting for four hours and then returned my passport and told me that I couldn’t travel. He said that in order to find out why I have to go to the Israeli DCO. I was surprised because in 2008 I had traveled without any problem. I haven’t traveled abroad since. I contacted HaMoked: Center for the Defense of the Individual, and they asked for my work contract at the school, but I didn’t have one yet.

Because I was not allowed to travel I missed a golden opportunity to work abroad with a monthly salary of 10,000 shekels [approx. USD 2,750], on top of which the school would be for housing for the family and school tuition for the first child. The situation here is very difficult. My salary is barely 3,000 shekels [approx. USD 825]. Everything is expensive and the political situation is very difficult. I don’t want to be far from my home, my village and my family but things here are very tough. It’s also tough emotionally. A friend of mine who was also invited to an interview at the school succeeded in getting through, and got the job. He’s there now and extremely satisfied.

I was held once for six months of administrative detention in 2014, and since then there has been nothing. When I was at the bridge I asked to meet the ISA agent in charge or any other person responsible for this decision, but they didn’t let me. It’s coldhearted. Why am I being prevented from travelling? I’ve done nothing wrong, and if they have something against me they are welcome to charge me.

In addition to the employment opportunity I have an uncle on my father’s side who lives in Jordan. He’s 75, in poor health, and now I can’t visit him.

In September 2016, three months after I was at the bridge, I got a call from the Israeli DCO and they summoned me to a meeting. I thought it would be a good opportunity to clarify the reason for the travel ban. The officer, who introduced himself as Ramzi, said he’s new and that he wants to get to know me. But he didn’t tell me why I can’t travel and gave me no answers. He said he hadn’t studied my file.

I have the right to travel like anyone else. Why can other people travel and tour the world and I can’t travel so I can make a living?

Taher Mahmoud Taher Ya’qub, 33, lives in Amman, Jordan. Israel has kept him from returning home to his wife and small children for the past ten months. In testimony he gave to B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad on 23 March 2017, he recounted the following:

Taher Ya’qub with his children. Photo courtesy of Taher Ya’qub.

I was born in Jordan to Palestinian parents. My father comes from the village of Beit Rima in Ramallah District, the West Bank. He lived and got married in Jordan, but we all kept our status as residents. We have both West Bank ID cards and Jordanian ID cards. We’re in close touch with my parents’ relatives in Beit Rima and visit them every few years.

In 2009 I married my cousin, Kafa Thalji Ya’qub (24). She comes from Beit Rima and moved to Jordan to live with me. We live in the a-Ruseife region in Jordan, close to my mother and near the Pepsi Cola plant where I work as a production technician. My father passed away ten years ago. We have three children: Baylasan (6), Wisal (5) and Mahmoud (2). Every two or three years, during the summer holidays, we go to Beit Rima to visit my wife’s family and my sister, who is married to my cousin.

On 16 July 2016, we arrived at Allenby Bridge on our way to spend the summer with our families. I also planned to handle some estate-execution matters for my family.

We set out for Allenby Bridge at 6:00 A.M. We waited for three or four hours on the Jordanian side of the bridge until we crossed over to the Israeli side. There, we waited until 4:00 P.M. My wife and I underwent body searches and then ISA (Israeli Security Agency) men at the crossing called me over and asked about the money we had brought with us for vacation expenses and for settling my grandfather’s estate. We were carrying 1,040 Jordanian dinars [approx. USD 1,465] and another 2,100 US dollars. I had some of the money on me and my wife had the rest, because we know you’re not allowed to bring in more than 2,000 dinars [approx. 2,820 USD] per person.

The ISA agents took the money. I told one of them that it was supposed to go towards the vacation and settling the estate, and that my family had given me power of attorney to take care of that. He said nothing and just ordered me to wait. He said: “Tell your wife to go on ahead and that we don’t want this to get messy. You stay here.”

By that time the bridge was almost empty, so my wife was worried about leaving me there. She started crying and the children also started crying and screaming. People came over to see what was wrong and I tried to calm my wife and children. The people in charge let me walk them to the gate. I telephoned my wife’s brother and asked him to come and get her, because they took all our money down to the last penny so she couldn’t go by public transportation. A short while later, at around 4:30 P.M., Israeli police from the Ma’ale Adumim police station came and arrested me. They handcuffed me and put me legs in restraints like I was some kind of criminal. They didn’t tell me why and I couldn’t understand what was going on, because we certainly hadn’t gone over the permitted sum.

I was taken to the Ma’ale Adumim police station. There, an investigator asked me who I was going to visit and what political group I belong to. I said that I don’t belong to any group and explained why we’d come over from Jordan. He asked about the money and I explained that it was for the vacation and for expenses related to registering the land and putting in order my father’s estate in the village. He ordered me to sign a document in Hebrew. I asked him: “How can I sign something I don’t understand?” He answered: “We’re not liars like the Palestinian Authority”. I refused to sign. He banged on the table and yelled: “You’d better sign. This document will keep you from getting beaten. These are just the things you said, and we haven’t added anything you didn’t say.” I signed because he left me no choice.

They kept me at the station until about 9:30 P.M., without giving me anything to eat. One of the guards gave me some water and said he was doing it secretly, because he’s not allowed to give me anything. A policeman fingerprinted and photographed me. Then he gave me a receipt for the sum of money they had taken and let me go. The receipt said that the money had been confiscated on suspicion that it was funding by a terrorist organization.

Taher Ya’qub’s children. Photo courtesy of Taher Ya’qub.

He left me outside the Ma’ale Adumim police station with no money at all. When I told him I had no money to pay for transportation, he asked if I knew someone who could come pick me up. I gave him my uncle’s cell-phone number. He called him and asked him to come and get me from the al-‘Eizariyah roundabout. I walked two kilometers to the roundabout and waited there until my unlce arrived and took me back to his place in Beit Rima. My wife and kids were already there.

I hired a lawyer to handle the money confiscation. In the meantime I worked odd jobs and borrowed money from relatives for our expenses. We visited with our families and I took care of settling the estate. After two weeks, at the beginning of August, we wanted to go back to Jordan because I had to return to work. When we got to Allenby Bridge, they only let my wife and kids through. They said that “for security reasons” I wasn’t allowed to leave. When I asked why, they said: “Go ask the ISA”. We had no choice. My wife and children crossed back into Jordan without me, so they wouldn’t miss school. I went back to Ramallah and since then I’ve been wandering among relatives, from house to house. I felt very uncomfortable because most of the time I had nothing to do. I’m living like a homeless person, destitute. Meanwhile, I lost my job in Jordan. It’s hard to find work here. I worked a bit at selling vegetables, in construction, and in an electronic appliance factory. Recently I managed to find a steady job.

The pay here is low – barely 2,000 shekels [approx. USD 550] a month, which is not even enough to cover my own expenses. I eat sparingly so I can send money to my wife. I try to eat only twice a day, and I work twelve hours a day. I could no longer bear living with the feeling of being a burden to the relatives I was staying with, so now I share an apartment with a few laborers. I pay 1,000 shekels [approx. USD 275) a month, which includes electricity, water, heating and a telephone. I live in very poor conditions. I feel like a displaced person and miss my wife and kids. I try to talk to them every day on the phone, but we’re all in shock. It’s the first time the children have experienced something like this - not being able to see their father because of a draconian decision. I’m in bad shape emotionally. It’s pain that’s hard to bear.

I’ve tried to get the travel ban lifted, so far unsuccessfully. At first I went to a lawyer, who asked for 1,500 shekels [approx. USD 415]. I agreed. As early as the end of August he said that he’d managed to have the restriction lifted and that I could check with the Civil Administration in Beit El. I went to Beit El and they confirmed that there was no restriction on my crossing back into Jordan. The next day I went to Allenby Bridge but to my surprise, they wouldn’t let me through and said I was banned from travel on security grounds. I fired the lawyer because I felt he’d cheated me.

In September, on my own initiative, I went to meet with ISA agents at Ofer Prison. The agent who met me treated me with respect. He introduced himself as Haim and said: “Hey man, don’t you recognize me?” I told him I didn’t and he said: “I’m your neighbor, I live next door, two houses down from your uncle’s”. Then, he showed me the location of my uncle’s house on a computer screen, pointed at it and said: “You sleep here”. I asked: “What’s wrong with that?” He started asking me about my uncle’s family and said: “These people are with Hamas. Why are you living with them?” He asked about my ties with them. I told him: “I have nowhere to live, they’re my uncle and aunt, as well as being my in-laws. What’s wrong with that?”

Then he started asking me about the money they’d confiscated and said: “Tell me where, or for whom, that money was intended. Help us so that we can help you.” It felt as though he was trying to blackmail me and recruit me as a collaborator. I became sure of that when he gave me his personal phone number, took my number, and asked me to think about it and get back to him within three days. I told him: “I’m an independent person. I’m not involved in politics and I have a family to support. Since my father died ten years ago, I’ve also been supporting my brothers. I don’t have time for anything but work.” In response, he threatened me: “If you don’t help us and volunteer the information about the money, we’ll keep you here for the rest of your life. I can force a confession out of you, but you need to tell us yourself.” Then he told me to go and that he hoped I’d call him in three days. I never did.

I hired another lawyer. On 13 October 2016, he managed to get an answer from the Israelis that the travel ban is in effect until 17 January 2018. On 22 December 2016, the Israelis infomred him that I could get the confiscated money back. I went to Beit El to get the money. The soldier there took a copy of the notice and my cell-phone number and said I’d get a call later, but no one called.

On 2 January 2017, the lawyer said that I’d been given permission to travel back to Jordan, but that they refused to give it in writing. I went to Allenby Bridge. When I got there, the official wouldn’t let me through and said: “We were sent the decision about the restriction ten minutes before you got here. We are given these orders. They’re not our decision.” I told him my lawyer had said I could cross and he answered: “Yes, but the restriction came in now, ten minutes ago.” I had no choice but to go back to my life of poverty and dejection. I went back to being effectively homeless. I count the minutes, days and months in the hope that I’ll see light at the end of the tunnel and be reunited with my wife, my kids, and the rest of the family in Jordan. I’m living in an apartment that’s a real dump and things are very tight financially. Life in Ramallah is very expensive. The conditions in prison are better than the ones I’m living in. On top of missing my wife and kids, my mother has glaucoma and underwent surgery a month ago. I couldn’t be there with her to help her. She needs another eye operation and also has trouble with her gallbladder. She needs care and assistance. Now there’s only one brother supporting our family, in addition to 120 dinars [approx. USD 170] that my mother receives from my father’s pension. I’m very frustrated and can’t concentrate. I go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning thinking of hugging my children. I last saw my youngest, Mahmoud, when he was two. Now his third birthday is coming up.

Update: In May 2017 Haaretz journalist Gideon Levey contacted COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories) and the ISA to inquire about Taher Ya’qub’s case. He was told as follows: “Imposing a travel ban on Taher Ya’qub was based on security considerations connected to his involvement in smuggling in terrorist funds, and concern that his departures from Israel would be used to continue activity endangering regional security. Under the circumstances, on the basis of humanitarian considerations, and despite the security risk that his activity entails, it was decided not to prevent his travel abroad at this time to meet with his family.” He was also informed that the confiscated money had been transferred to Ya’qub’s lawyer back in January 2017. The lawyer has yet to hand over the monies to Ya’qub.
This response makes no reference to the contradiction between the official argument, whereby Ya’qub was smuggling terrorist funds, and the fact that these funds were returned in full to his lawyer.
On 13 May 2017 Taher Ya’qub travelled to the DCO in Beit El to find out if the travel ban had been lifted. He was told that his “ban for security reasons” is still in effect and that he cannot return to his home in Jordan.

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This recent spike has so far driven at least 19 Palestinian communities from their homes and placed many more under serious threat.The Mitzpe Yehuda/Tzon Kedar outpost was established in September 2019 in Bariyet a-Sawahrah a-Sharqiyah, arid pastureland east of the town of the same name in al-Quds District. The outpost consists of several structures, including a café, and hosts events and weddings; a flock of sheep has also been brought there.This area had long been used by farmers from a-Sawahrah a-Sharqiyah to grow crops and graze flocks. Some of the land is privately owned by residents of the town. Some farmers live in shacks they built on their lands to tend to their flocks and cultivate the land, while maintaining homes in the town. Additionally, for decades, Bedouins from the al-Hazalin tribe—who relocated to the area after being expelled from the Negev by Israel in the 1950s—have lived in the area. There they established the al-Muntar community, which comprises several residential clusters. Immediately after the outpost was set up there was a significant increase in harassment suffered by Palestinian residents. Settlers began invading their lands and damaging fences and crops, sometimes escorted by soldiers. Settlers also prevented some residents from reaching land they farmed and pastureland they used by threatening them at gunpoint. The restriction of available pastureland has forced shepherds who cannot afford to buy feed to sell most of their sheep. After 7 October 2023, settlers blocked the road leading from the town to the residents’ farmland and pastureland by putting up a dirt pile and concrete blocks, escorted by soldiers. This also blocked Palestinians from the town who live on their farmland and residents of al-Muntar from reaching the town for various services. At the same time, the settlers intensified their harassment of the farmers, threatening to hurt them if they did not leave the area, and preventing them from accessing pastureland or repairing their water wells. Settlers also broke into a resident’s home in the dead of night, set a neighboring house on fire, cut water pipes and vandalized fences. Some residents were forced to abandon their homes in the agricultural area out of fear for their lives, and farmers from the town stopped cultivating their lands. The residents repeatedly called the police and even filed complaints, to no avail. The police arrested one of the residents, who was released only two weeks later. The deliberate creation of such friction clearly demonstrates the motivation behind establishing outpost farms as settlers expand their control over these lands. The targeted harassment of Palestinian farmers by settlers from outposts creates a false show of symmetry between the settlers and the farmers, which the military then uses to justify removing Palestinians from their lands, often using force, under the pretext of security constraints. When such incidents recur, farmers’ access to their own lands is barred, preventing them from cultivating their fields and making a living from them. With the military’s backing, settlers exploit the situation they have created to take final control over Palestinian-owned lands. In February 2023, the Israeli government announced its intention to legalize the Tzon Kedar Farm and nine other outposts. A year later, in February 2024, the head of the Central Command signed an order regarding the jurisdiction of a new settlement named Mishmar Yehuda, among other things advancing the legalization of Tzon Qedar. The jurisdiction is apparently based on state land declared there and on land allegedly purchased by settlers from Palestinian landowners in 1992. This action completes Israel’s takeover of the land, which began with the outpost’s establishment, formalizing the residents’ loss of access to lands that served them until the outpost was built. Testimonies that B’Tselem field researcher ‘Amer ‘Aruri collected from several Palestinians who own pastureland in Bariyet a-Sawahrah a-Sharqiyah illustrate the impact of the outpost on their lives and the harassment they face from settlers and the military.On 9 May 2024, J.S. (31) said:I am married without children and work in agriculture. I own land in the pastureland of a-Sawahrah, east of the town. Before the establishment of Tzon Kedar, I lived in a-Sawahrah a-Sharqiyah and could easily reach my land. We felt safe here.Since the outpost was built, I started hearing from family members who lived on the land that settlers were attacking shepherds and not letting them reach pasture and farmland. This land has been ours for many generations. My father, my grandfathers and their grandfathers lived in this area and grazed huge flocks in these open spaces. I spent a lot of time here as a child with the family, with the sheep out in the pasture, and there was nothing to fear. The place was safe.Because it’s become so hard to access our land, I moved here with my wife a year ago. The settlers have reduced our grazing areas, which once spanned hundreds of dunams. Now we only have access to about ten dunams [~2.5 acres] right next to my house and my cousin N.S.’s house. Whenever we do try to reach the grazing areas near the outpost, the settlers threaten to shoot us with their rifles.The settlers also show up at our homes here, accompanied by soldiers. Once, a settler arrived with a map and said he’d bought the land my house and my cousin’s house are on. He also claimed that until recently, there were no structures here, even though my family had a trailer here, donated by an international organization 25 years ago. The settlers also cut the fence around our cultivated land and let their sheep roam there. They ate the crops we put so much work into.A week after 7 October 2023, while I was driving home, a settler blocked the road and told me I wasn’t allowed to reach the area by car. Later, the settlers and the army blocked the road to the town with a dirt mound and dug a trench next to it.One night after the war broke out, while my wife and I were asleep, three settlers suddenly knocked down our door and burst in. My wife started screaming and calling for help. The settlers told us we had to leave the area. One of them threatened me and said, “If you come near us, I’ll shoot you.” He said it was our final warning and that we had to leave.That night, my cousin’s house suddenly caught fire. It’s made of cement blocks and tin. I called in relatives from a-Sawahrah a-Sharqiyah, who arrived half an hour later and helped me put out the fire, but part of the house was destroyed. Thank God my cousin and his family weren’t home that night. Since the war began, his wife and children have been sleeping in town because they’re afraid of the settlers and their attacks on Palestinian communities across the West Bank, so that night he wasn’t there.Since the war began, I’ve filed three complaints against the settlers and the army, for cutting off our access to the town and for the invasion of my home, but nothing has come of it. Our complaints don’t lead to any action against the settlers.Today, 9 May 2024, we tried to repair a water cistern near our homes. We hired four workers for the job. But then an armed settler arrived and threatened us that if we didn’t stop the work, he would be back in an hour, shoot anyone working on the cistern and blow it up. The workers got scared and left, and the repairs stopped. Someone once cut the pipes leading water out of the cistern, and we suspect it was the settlers.N.S. (35), a father of four and cousin of J.S., a resident of a-Sawahrah a-Sharqiyah, related on 9 May 2024:I am a farmer. My extended family owns about 500 dunams [~124 acres] in the pastureland of a-Sawahrah a-Sharqiyah. My ancestors grew grains in this area and our family has been cultivating it since ancient times. I farm the same lands. My extended family has always had flocks of sheep that graze here.Since the settlers built their outpost a few years ago, our situation has deteriorated. Until then, we raised 500 sheep here and had access to all the grazing areas without interference. Now, to reach most of our land I have to go past the outpost, but the settlers don’t let me past and threaten to shoot me. That has reduced my grazing land from hundreds of dunams to about ten [~2.5 acres].Since 7 October 2023, the situation has got much worse. A week after the war started, I went shopping in town. When I got back at 5:30 A.M., I found part of my house burned down.I thank God that at the beginning of the war, I moved my family to our house in town because I feared the settlers would harm them. Otherwise, a disaster would have happened to us. No one but the settlers has an interest in burning our house. They are the ones trying to pressure us into leaving the area.Two weeks after the war began, the settlers and the army blocked the road leading from town to the pastureland with a dirt mound and dug a trench around it. We tried several times to unblock the road, but security guards from the nearby settlement of Qedar came and told us we were not allowed to open it. They threatened to confiscate our vehicle if we didn’t stop.The settlers continued to chase after the shepherds in the pastureland, armed with rifles. One time, they threatened to shoot me if I didn’t move my sheep away from the area by the outpost.All this has severely undermined our ability to make a living off of shepherding, and we’ve been forced to sell most of our flock. From a flock of 500 sheep, only 60 remain. Not only do the settlers prevent us from reaching our grazing land, but they also let their sheep–I estimate they have about 200–roam freely on our cultivated lands.On the tenth day of the last Ramadan, at 3:00 A.M., soldiers came to my house in six military vehicles and arrested me. They took me to the Russian Compound detention center in Jerusalem and accused me of multiple charges, all of which I denied.I told the interrogator that the only Jews I know are the two settlers who have been attacking me, threatening my life, and releasing their sheep onto my family’s farmland, while barring me from grazing my sheep and going near their outpost.I was held in the detention center for 14 days, in a cell with 15 other people. The cell had a toilet and six concrete bunks, so most of the detainees slept on the floor. There were no blankets. All we got to eat, twice a day, was an egg, four sausages and a slice of bread. That’s what we got even for the pre-fast meal, suhur, and the meal for breaking the fast, iftar. At night, we weren’t allowed to turn off the lights, which made it very hard to sleep.The guards stormed into the cell several times a day and beat all of us for no reason. Usually, the worst beatings occurred at night, after we went to sleep. I suffered many injuries to my head and chest from the beatings, but we didn’t get any medical treatment. People who had been detained in the past told me that before 7 October 2023, prison was different. After two weeks, I was released and went home.We get water from the town through plastic pipes, and we have a 500-liter tank. It takes a week to fill because the water pressure is weak. Three days ago, someone sabotaged our water pipes and cut them. I believe it was settlers from the outpost. This has happened more than once since October. The war has increased the settlers’ appetite for our lands, as well as their efforts to drive us out of the pastureland.Today, 9 May 2024, I hired four workers from the town to repair the water cistern by my house. At 9:30 A.M., while we were cleaning the cistern, a settler arrived with a gun and told me we had an hour to leave the place, or else he would shoot at and blow up the cistern. The workers got scared and refused to continue working after that. M.S. (34), a father of four and resident of the town of a-Sawahrah a-Sharqiyah, said on 9 May 2024:I’m a farmer and started raising sheep about three years ago. I work on the farmland of my grandfather and father in the pastureland of a-Sawahrah a-Sharqiyah. My late grandfather had a quarry in the area, which operated with an Israeli license, but stopped functioning about 30 years ago.My grandfather and father used to grow grains and raise sheep, and could access their lands freely back then. You could plant, sow and graze sheep everywhere. We used the crops for personal consumption and sold some of it to buy feed for the sheep some of the year. But since the outpost was established about 500 meters from our home, the lands we use for grazing and farming have shrunk from hundreds of dunams to 12 dunams [~3 acres]. That is because the settlers do not allow my family past the outpost to reach the grazing land.In the past, we leased some of our land to another resident of a-Sawahrah a-Sharqiyah, who cultivated it. But after the outpost was established, he got too scared and left. The settlers took advantage of the fact that the land was uncultivated, and three years ago, they cut the barbed wire fence, invaded our land and plowed it. My family has roots here going back hundreds of years, and I wasn’t ready to give up. I decided to come back and work the land along with my brothers and cousins, because I feared the settlers would take over my ancestral land. We fixed the barbed wire fence that they destroyed, plowed the land and planted seeds.The first time, after the settlers invaded and plowed our land, more than 50 members of our family came and worked the land. At first, the settlers were afraid to come near us, so we managed to work and plant. But later on, masked settlers started coming to our land and cursing everyone who was working there.On 29 April 2023, the settlers cut the barbed wire fence around our land and uprooted the iron stakes marking its boundaries. We repaired the fence, drove the iron stakes back in and re-marked the boundaries.After 7 October 2023, the settlers started trying even harder to grab our land, especially because the Israeli government gave them a green light to attack Palestinian communities in the West Bank without being held accountable.More than once, settlers have stood in my path and threatened me. They told me that if I stayed in the area, it would soon cost me my life. They said they were losing patience with me and my family, because our land and homes are the closest to their outpost.Once, after the war began, settlers attacked the home of one of my relatives. They broke into his house at night, while he was there with his wife, and threatened to kill him. That same night, another relative’s house was set on fire.About seven months ago, while we were out at a family celebration, the settlers used the opportunity to unleash dogs into a sheep pen we shared with some relatives. The dogs attacked the sheep and killed ten of them.In another incident three months ago, I was working on our land and had a five-year-old boy from our family with me. Two settlers arrived, one of whom I recognized and the other was wearing a mask and army pants and had an M-16 rifle. One of them asked me what we were doing on the land of Eretz Israel. I told him he was trespassing, that this was private land and that he wasn’t allowed to be there. He told me that in war there are no rules. I took out my phone and told the settler that if he didn’t leave, I would call the police. The settler warned me not to walk the sheep near the outpost and said I wasn’t allowed to leave my house at night. He threatened to kill me.Twelve days ago, the settlers cut the barbed wire fence around our land and brought in their flocks of sheep. I called the police, and they came and told the settlers they weren’t allowed to enter any fenced-off land.The settlers repeatedly sabotage the pipes through which the a-Sawahrah municipality supplies us with water. The last time was on Thursday, 16 May 2024. We got up in the morning and found the pipes cut and damaged. Obviously, nothing like this ever happened to us before the outpost was built.The residents of a-Sawahrah a-Sharqiyah used to have hundreds of dunams available for grazing. Now, we all have to share a few dozen dunams because the settlers chase shepherds in the area. Of what’s left, about 12 dunams [~3 acres] belong to my family.With less grazing land, no money to buy feed and fewer crops for the sheep to eat after the settlers cut the fences and brought their sheep into our land, I had to cut my flock down from 150 to 50.

4 September 2024

שער הכניסה ל"חוות מגד הארץ". צילום: דרור אטקס, כרם נבות, 11.5.22

Settler Violence = State Violence

Meged Ha’aretz Farm: Settler takeover of Shufah and Kafa lands with military assistance

Over the past decade, settlement outposts and “agricultural farms” have become one of Israel’s primary methods for taking over land in the West Bank and driving Palestinian communities out. Unlike the bureaucratic process involved in establishing an official settlement, ‘pirate’ outposts can be set up quickly, with relatively few resources and laborers. Taking control of farmland via setting up outposts also allows the state to evade direct responsibility for land seizure and shrug off the violent, illegal acts by settlers involved in the process, while effectively supporting them in various ways. By using these settlers as proxies, the state frames the establishment of outposts as an issue of law enforcement rather than policy.These outposts are set up quickly in key areas of the West Bank. They establish facts on the ground by invading private Palestinian land with herds of sheep and cattle, goading residents into confrontations and assaulting them. In some cases, the outposts are established without formal approval from the Israeli authorities, and in others, they are set up in cooperation with the authorities, relying on agreements concerning land allocation for agricultural needs, such as grazing and farming. Even in cases where land has been allocated by the state, the settlers often go beyond the allotted territory, expanding the territory under their control.The military often cooperates with these settlers by not demolishing structures built by them and by sending troops to guard them, who then often actively join in efforts to expel the Palestinian residents. Since 7 October 2023, this activity has greatly increased in both scope and frequency, with settlers ramping up violence and the military actively involved. This recent spike has so far driven at least 19 Palestinian communities from their homes and placed many more under serious threat.One of these outposts is Meged Ha’aretz, which was founded in 2018 in the Tulkarm district, west of the settlement of Avnei Hefetz, northwest of the village of Shufah—which, with the establishment of Avnei Hefetz, had already lost a significant portion of its land —and east of the village of Kafa. About ten residential buildings, agricultural structures, greenhouses, and a pen for around 200 sheep have been built, and plots have been prepared for growing organic agricultural produce sold at the outpost. Various workshops are also held there. Since the establishment of the outpost, there has been a significant increase in the harassment of farmers whose agricultural plots are located a few hundred meters from the outpost and the settlement fence. Settlers have harassed farmers working on their lands, provoked them, and deliberately created friction. Hundreds of olive trees have been vandalized, and agricultural structures, water tanks, and property were damaged. Equipment and livestock have been stolen, graffiti sprayed and greenhouses set on fire. Another tactic settlers from the outpost used to intimidate and take control of the land has been firing shots into the air to frighten Palestinian shepherds and prevent them from grazing their sheep and cattle in the area. As a result of settler violence and restricted access to grazing areas, some farmers were forced to sell their herds, as the cost of feeding livestock with purchased fodder was unaffordable.Since 7 October 2023, army-supported settler harassment has intensified, and farmers from the villages of Shufah and Kafa have been practically barred from working their lands and grazing their livestock. They were unable to pick their olives during the 2023 harvest. During the plowing season in March and April 2024, Palestinian landowners contacted the Israeli DCO to coordinate their entry into the area. Nevertheless, when they arrived at their plots, settlers and soldiers prevented them from working their land. The soldiers fired in the air, detained the farmers, took them to a military base in the settlement of Avnei Hefetz, and held them there for several hours before releasing them without any charges or allegations.It is important to emphasize that while Palestinians’ access to their own lands has been restricted, the military allows settlers to move free and do as they please in the area. The settlers destroyed an agricultural structure after vandalizing it several times, among other harm they have caused.The deliberate creation of such friction clearly demonstrates the motivation behind establishing outpost farms as settlers expand their control over these lands. The targeted harassment of Palestinian farmers by settlers from outposts creates a false show of symmetry between the settlers and the farmers, which the military then uses to justify removing Palestinians from their lands, often using force, under the pretext of security constraints. When such incidents recur, farmers’ access to their own lands is barred, preventing them from cultivating their fields and making a living from them. With the military’s backing, settlers exploit the situation they have created to take final control over Palestinian-owned lands.It is important to emphasize that while Palestinians’ access to their own lands has been restricted, the military allows settlers to move free and do as they please in the area. The settlers destroyed an agricultural structure after vandalizing it several times, among other harm they have caused.The deliberate creation of such friction clearly demonstrates the motivation behind establishing outpost farms as settlers expand their control over these lands. The targeted harassment of Palestinian farmers by settlers from outposts creates a false show of symmetry between the settlers and the farmers, which the military then uses to justify removing Palestinians from their lands, often using force, under the pretext of security constraints. When such incidents recur, farmers’ access to their own lands is barred, preventing them from cultivating their fields and making a living from them. With the military’s backing, settlers exploit the situation they have created to take final control over Palestinian-owned lands.Testimonies collected by B’Tselem from several residents of the villages of Shufah and Kafa illustrate the detrimental impact the outpost has on farmers’ access to their lands, as well as the mistreatment they face from settlers and soldiers.B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi collected the following testimonies.Tahsin Hamed (72), a father of six and resident of Shufah, gave his testimony to B’Tselem on 12 May 2024:My brothers—Jamal, Mu’in, Ahmad and Ibrahim—and I inherited 500 dunams of land about 400-500 meters from the security fence of the settlement of Avnei Hefetz, which was built on land that belongs to people from our village. We personally own an olive grove and grow seasonal crops as well.In 2018, a settler took over a hill in the area of Manzalet Bir-Salem, located about 700-800 meters northwest of the settlement of Avnei Hefetz. He moved there with his family and set up tents and sheep pens. I think he has around 200 sheep.That’s when our problems began. The settler started grazing his sheep in our olive grove, and they ate the branches of the olive trees and the seasonal crops we used to plant every year. Together with other settlers, he also damaged young olive trees we planted and the branches of mature trees. Since he set up his outpost, hundreds of our olive trees and olive seedlings have been destroyed. We planted new seedlings several times, but the settlers destroyed them again and again.Also, whenever my family and I go to our land to work, the settler calls the soldiers in the area, who come and order us to leave under false pretexts, claiming we are trespassing on the land the settler stole, even though we don’t leave our own plot. Instead of protecting us, the soldiers drive us out. They help the settler take over our land, too.We used to have a small agricultural structure made of stone and cinder blocks with a tin roof on our plot. It was built decades ago and was a place to rest and store tools. There was also a small chicken coop nearby, where I kept six hens whose eggs I ate on days I was working.The settlers have damaged the structure several times. They vandalized the water container we use for drinking, cooking and watering the plants around the structure, and broke the wooden door. The last time this happened was about a month ago, during Ramadan. Since the war in Gaza began, the Israeli army has banned me and my brothers from entering our land under security pretexts. Each time we’ve tried to go, soldiers have told us we’re forbidden from being there and expelled us. The settlers have taken advantage of this and have completely destroyed the structure and damaged everything inside it. Even during the last olive harvest, in October and November 2023, the army stopped us all from picking our olives. They drove us away every time we tried to reach our groves. As a result, the entire crop—which would make about 300 jars of olive oil—went to waste. In previous years, we sold most of the crop and kept a small portion for personal use.Last Ramadan, which started at the end of March and ended in April, the Palestinian DCO informed us that the Israeli DCO had designated three days for us to access our land to plow and treat the weeds. My brothers, our sons and I—13 people from our family altogether—arrived early in the morning on the first designated day with donkeys, pesticide and other agricultural equipment. Just 10 minutes later, Israeli soldiers stationed in the Avnei Hefetz settlement arrived and fired live shots in the air. Then guards from the settlement, other settlers and more soldiers arrived. They handcuffed us all and covered our eyes with black garbage bags.A military vehicle arrived. They loaded us onto it and took us to a military camp within Avnei Hefetz. They confiscated our ID cards and phones and held us there without any interrogation or questioning. They only swore at us. I tried to explain to the soldiers that we went to our land after coordinating with the Israeli DCO, and that we were authorized to work there for three days, but no one would listen.They kept us there with our hands tied and eyes covered for eight hours—from 7:30 A.M. to 3:30 P.M.—and then took us to the Einav checkpoint, where they released us. We took the plastic bags off our eyes and took of the remaining zip ties, and found all the belongings they took from us lying on a concrete block at the checkpoint.We got home exhausted and felt we’d been wronged. The settlers and soldiers want to drive us off our land and take control of it.On 8 December 2019, Hamed told B’Tselem how settlers harassed him and his brother on their land:This afternoon I was on the 12 plot of land that belongs to me and my brothers, west of the outpost near the Avnei Hefetz settlement. My brother Ibrahim was plowing his plot, which is next to mine. I was about to join him when suddenly, I heard shouting in Hebrew coming from his plot. I realized settlers were harassing my brother and quickly went there. It’s about 200 meters away. When I got there, I saw a settler holding the donkey’s bridle to prevent my brother from plowing. The settler was shouting and demanding that my brother leave the area. I took the bridle from the settler and yelled at him. I asked why he was doing this. The settler said the land belongs to Jews. I replied that this land has belonged to our family for hundreds of years. I managed to get the settler away from the donkey.He called for another settler to come, and we got into a fight over ownership of the land. The settler kept provoking me and telling me to hit him, but I held back so he wouldn’t have an excuse to call more settlers and soldiers, who could force us to leave. This went on for about two hours. In the end, the two settlers left after they didn’t manage to provoke us into reacting. My brother Ibrahim then continued to plow his land.This is our land, which we inherited from our grandparents, and we will continue to work it. We will plow the land, take care of it and protect it from the settlers’ herds. It’s clear to me that the settlers’ acts of provocation and aggression are just the beginning. They want to drive us off the land so they can take control of it.A.I. (21), a resident of Kafa, gave his testimony to B’Tselem on 20 July 2024:My family and I make our living from farming. We own farland and greenhouses east of Kafa, in an area called al-Maruj a-Sharqiya [1] (“the eastern fields”. There, we have greenhouses that cover 3 dunams, where we grow cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetables.A few years ago, a settler set up a farm on a hill called al-Masyad and took over the land I mentioned, which belongs to my grandfather, and covers almost 9 dunams. Since then, accessing our land has become risky, because the settler and his friends provoke and threaten us.For example, one night in the spring of 2018, a group of settlers set fire to our greenhouses. That same year, they attacked me and my brother Haitham with sticks and branches while we were inside our greenhouse. There were more than 15 of them, most under the age of 18, but they were accompanied by the settler who built the farm. My brother and I managed to escape, but they uprooted tomato seedlings we planted.In 2021, they tried to set the greenhouses on fire several times, always at night. Thanks to our vigilance, we put out the fire each time before it spread to all the greenhouses.In March 2024, while I was installing wooden boards on the roofs of the greenhouses, a group of about 12 settlers arrived, some of them carrying sticks and others guns. They forced me to come down from the roof, threatened me and then drove me out of the land. I had to leave to avoid being attacked.I’m currently preparing the land for planting. Most days, on our way to the greenhouses, there are shots in the air above us coming from the direction of the farm. They try to scare us off coming to our land, growing things on it and benefiting from it.The soldiers guarding the outpost help the settlers. They detain us, check our ID cards and phones, and look to see whether we’ve photographed the outpost or the settlers, trying to deter us from coming. Their goal is to drive us owners away so the settlers can take over the land.U.I. (25), a resident of Kafa, gave his testimony to B’Tselem on 20 July 2024:I’ve been working in agriculture since 2017. I have greenhouses on 3 dunams and another 2 dunams of field crops and vegetables. These plots are east of Kafa, in an area called al-Maruj a-Sharqiya, about 700-800 meters from the outpost. Ever since a settler built an outpost west of the Avnei Hefetz settlement, we’ve been facing problems, and accessing my land has become dangerous. After 7 October 2023, the harassment increased, especially from late December 2023 to late February 2024. Whenever we tried to reach the land, the soldiers guarding the outpost would block us. We had to sneak in to work the land. One morning, I arrived at the greenhouses to plant tomato seedlings. I saw about 20 settlers on my land, and soldiers who were with them wouldn’t let me pass. I waited until noon, and when I finally reached the greenhouses, I found they’d slashed the plastic coverings with knives and stones. They also damaged the tomato seedlings—4,600 seedlings I bought from a nursery the day before. Besides that, the settlers from the outpost shoot over our heads when we’re on the land and in the greenhouses to scare us. The last time was just a few days ago, on 16 July 2024—the bullet came within a few centimeters of my head, and I was lucky not to be hit. They do all of this to force us to abandon our land so they can take control of it more easily. W.A. (36), a father of three and resident of Kafa, gave his testimony to B’Tselem on 20 July 2024:I’m a farmer. My family and I have farmland east of Kafa, in an area called al-Aqayib a-Sharqiya. In June 2017, across from our land, in the area of al-Akran, an outpost was built. It lies west of the Avnei Hefetz settlement. Until 2018, we also raised cattle and sheep. We had 50 cows and 70 sheep, and would graze them on 100 dunams of pastureland that served the village for decades. But then a settler built that outpost, which is basically a farm; he set up trailers, built sheep pens, and barred my family from grazing our cattle there. On several occasions, he fired shots into the air above our heads and our herds to scare us. We were afraid he might kill the livestock or even us, and we realized there was no one to protect us or hold him accountable. We had to stop grazing and, since we can’t afford feed, we had no choice but to sell our herd at the end of 2018, a year after the settler arrived.In 2021, while we were planting black-eyed pea seedlings in our field, a group of settlers showed up. That original settler drew an imaginary line with his hand and said we and other farmers were not allowed to cross it, threatening that anyone who did would be risking their life. The line he drew was more than 700 meters from his outpost. He also often flies a drone over us when we work our land.We live in constant tension and fear because of his violent behavior—the shots in the air, the drone and the threats. We’re very worried he might harm us and are concerned about our livelihood and future.

27 August 2024