Agriculture

The Israeli government is directly responsible for the ongoing harm inflicted on the residents of Qusrah

6 October 2011

This morning (6.10.2011), Palestinian farmers from the village of Qusrah, south of Nablus, discovered that approximately 200 of their olive and fig trees were completely destroyed or uprooted. The vandalism occurred south of the village, in an area adjacent to the location of several outposts of the Shilo settlement. Some of the olive trees bore fruit, which the owners intended to pick in the coming days. Residents told B'Tselem that they tended their land yesterday, so the damage was clearly done last night. There were no witnesses but past experience raises well-grounded suspicions that the act was carried out by settlers.

Residents of Qusra next to their damaged trees. Photo: B'Tselem, 6 Oct. '11
Residents of Qusrah next to their damaged trees. Photo: B'Tselem, 6 Oct. '11

The attack occurred in an open area with excellent visibility. Last month, the army established a military post on a hill overlooking the valley between the Esh-Kodesh outpost and Qusrah. Even if soldiers aren't present there at all times, the security forces maintain an ongoing presence in the area. In spite of this, it is suspected that settlers managed to vandalize 200 trees unhindered by the soldiers. Regardless of whether the soldiers noticed the settlers and chose to ignore them or whether they weren’t present in the area, this is a particularly severe case where the security forces violated their obligation to protect the Palestinian residents and their property.

Map of the area
Map of the area

In spite of repeated complaints by the residents of Qusrah and other villages in the area – Duma, Qaryut and Jalud – and by human rights organizations, the law enforcement authorities routinely violate their obligation to protect local residents from settler attacks. B'Tselem demands that the authorities put a stop to these attacks and take all necessary measures to hold the perpetrators accountable, while guaranteeing their rights to due process. The Israeli authorities must stop abandoning Palestinian residents in this area and in other flash points of settler violence the West Bank.

In the past six weeks B'Tselem documented seven incidents in which settlers trespassed onto Qusrah's land, and vandalized property. In some of the incidents the settler attack led to confrontations between residents and settlers and soldiers who arrived subsequently. In one such incident, local resident 'Issam Badran was killed by soldiers. In another case, the village mosque was set on fire and Hebrew graffiti was sprayed on it. A number of suspects who were arrested have been released and B'Tselem is not aware of any progress with the investigation.

According to UN OCHA, during the period between 21-27 Sept., settlers cut down, uprooted or set fire to over 900 trees in the West Bank. Over half of the affected trees were damaged in two separate incidents in Qusrah. Since the beginning of the year, over 7,500 trees belonging to Palestinians have been vandalized by settlers.

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Settler Violence = State Violence

Israel used the Gaza war to impose extreme restrictions on the annual West Bank olive harvest

The annual olive harvest in the West Bank is a key element of the Palestinian economy and a crucial source of income for tens of thousands of families. The World Bank and the Palestine Trade Center estimate that in good years, it injects almost 200 million dollars into the Palestinian economy. However, every year, Israel extensively restricts Palestinians’ ability to carry out the harvest, using official and unofficial means. In 2023, while the war in the Gaza Strip was underway, these restrictions reached new heights, leaving about 50% of Palestinian farmers unable to harvest their trees, according to estimates of the Palestinian Farmers’ Union.The main official measure Israel uses is the “coordination” system, conceived as the military’s response to settler violence against Palestinian harvesters. Instead of dealing directly with assaults by settlers, the military places the onus on Palestinians, demanding they coordinate access to their land in advance – ostensibly so soldiers can be sent to protect them. In practice, this system limits the harvest or prevents it altogether. Harvesting all the olives takes weeks, but the military enables farmers access to their trees for several days only. This means they are unable to harvest the entire crop or prepare the land for winter crops. At the same time, this system does not stop settler violence. Soldiers often do not show up despite prior “coordination” with the military; when they do, they do not prevent or stop the violence, often even joining in.In recent years, the Civil Administration allocated every community three days a year to harvest olives. This year, immediately after the war in Gaza broke out, even these few days were canceled. Several alternative dates were set, but bowing to pressure from settlers, the military canceled some of these as well, for example near the settlements of Elkana, Sha’arei Tikva and Etz Efrayim.The head of the Burin village council, Ibrahim ‘Umran, told B’Tselem that about 12,000 dunams (1,200 hectares) of village farmland, which covers two-thirds of all the village’s land, lie within Area C. On about 1,000 dunams (100 hectares) of these are olive groves with 16,000 trees. Residents were allocated two days to harvest their olives, on 25 and 26 October 2023, and both were canceled once the war broke out. ‘Umran says about 70% of village residents rely on income from the harvest and lost tens of thousands of shekels meant to support them throughout the year. As the expected income was slated for expenses such as rent, home construction, university tuition and the like, the restrictions this year have impacted them directly.1“Coordination” is also required for farmland that remains cut off on the other side of the Separation Barrier. The head of the ‘Akkabah village regional council, Taysir ‘Amarneh, told B’Tselem that local residents own about 2,500 dunams (250 hectares) of farmland west of the barrier, which they used to access daily through a gate in the fence. When the war broke out, the gate was closed. Residents were allocated three “coordination” days in late November, only after negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian DCOs. This did not give residents enough time to harvest olives for private use, let alone complete the harvest, severely hurting their livelihoods.2Unofficially, harvesters are obstructed by settlers’ violent assaults. These attacks are permitted and backed by the military, with soldiers often takin part. For years, settler violence against Palestinians has peaked during the harvest season, yet Israeli authorities consistently refrain from taking preventive action as a matter of policy. This year, with the war in Gaza underway, the military has enlisted many settlers for regional operations in the West Bank. The settlers have used this power to block roads leading to Palestinian land and to set up roadblocks on agricultural roads, denying Palestinians access to olive groves near settlements.Settler attacks on harvesters have increased in both intensity and frequency since the war began. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations (OCHA), from the beginning of the war to mid-January, more than 440 incidents of settler violence took place – with scores of these assaults directed at olive harvesters. These incidents included settlers physically assaulting harvesters, uprooting large olive groves, vandalizing groves by breaking branches, sawing off trunks and torching trees, and stealing olives. Many of the attacks were carried out in the presence of Israeli forces. Settlers also threatened to harm harvesters on social media.The head of the ‘Awarta village council, Sa’ed ‘Awwad, told B’Tselem the village has about 2,000 dunams (200 hectares) of land, located near the settlement of Itamar, that the military does not allow residents to access without prior “coordination”. This year, residents were allocated only one day for harvesting, starting at 8:00 A.M. On the scheduled day, ‘Awwad was informed the start time had been pushed back two hours. When the residents arrived at their land, they found about 20 settlers harvesting their olive trees with several soldiers standing guard. They tried unsuccessfully to put an end to the theft and eventually left at around 4:00 P.M., while the settlers were still picking their olives and vandalizing the trees.3This year, as in previous years, the police have not investigated these violent incidents. In the most severe incident in the 2023 harvest, on 27 October, a soldier from the settlement of Rehelim on military leave killed Belal Salah, 40, a resident of a-Sawiyah, while he was harvesting his family’s olive trees. The soldier, who was suspected of reckless homicide and illegal use of a firearm, was released after a short time in detention and returned to his unit.This Israeli policy has caused immediate financial harm to tens of thousands of Palestinian families. For instance, the olive press in the village of al-Mughayir, which also serves the villages of Kafr Malik, Turmusaya, Abu Falah and Duma, produced only 20% of the average annual output this year – 60 tons of olive oil instead of 300 tons. The olive press at al-Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah produced only 500 kilograms of olive oil this year, instead of 150 tons.The 2023 harvest was especially important this year as the Palestinian economy is already struggling due to the war in Gaza – particularly because of the prohibition on laborers entering Israel and the Palestinian Authority’s suspension of public sector salaries.The systemic obstruction of the olive harvest this year, augmented by organized settler violence against harvesters and their property, is not unique to this time of war. It is part of Israel’s longstanding violent policy, which aims to cement the apartheid regime in the West Bank and allow continued expansion of settlements. Bezalel Smotrich, who serves as Minister of Finance and Minister in the Ministry of Defense, and MK Tzvi Sukkot, Chair of the Knesset Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria Affairs, have already said “sterile security spaces” should be created near settlements, where Palestinians would be denied entry altogether. This would clear the way for the state to take over this land and use it for its own purposes.Testimonies:‘Abdallah Na’asan from the village of al-Mughayir told B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad:My family has more than 900 dunams of land with more than 8,000 olive trees on both sides of the Allon Route, which was always freely accessible all year round, and some near the outpost of Adei Ad, which you had to get “coordination” to access. We’d get between five and seven days of “coordination” each year. This year, after the war in Gaza started, Israel canceled everything. The army closed off all the entrances and agricultural roads, eight roads in total, with rocks and piles of dirt.We managed to sneak into our land a few times, but didn’t always evade the settlers’ aggression. They usually have a drone in the air and see anyone who tries to get close to the land. When they see us, they chase us or call the army, and then our equipment or vehicles are confiscated. So far, the army has confiscated two of our tractors.We put up a real fight through a village resident who works at the Palestinian DCO, and managed to get three days of “coordination” in early December to harvest the olives off the Allon Route. When we got there, we found all our fruit on the ground, which meant we couldn’t use it to produce edible oil or anything else because of the high acidity. Even if we wanted to make soap out of it, it would be very expensive and not profitable. That’s how we lost this season.In previous seasons, we produced about 40,000 kg a year from our land. Each kg sold in the market for NIS 30 (~ USD 8). We would sell in the village or on the Palestinian market, and would also export some to the United States. All that gave us a nice income. But this year, we made nothing. We didn’t even manage to pick olives for our own use, which means we’ll have to buy some to make up for the shortfall. On the other hand, we racked up a lot of costs cultivating the olives, buying fertilizers and pesticides and plowing – a total of about 300,000 NIS (~ USD 81,750). On top of that, we have labor costs. Every year, more than 30 laborers work for us during the harvest season. They also lost their income this year and were hurt. They support at least 150 people. We have 10 other laborers who work for us year round, and they were also hurt.After October 7, settlers destroyed our trees and lands. We saw the settlers from the shepherding farms spread out in the eastern part of the village setting their flocks to graze in our groves. The sheep ate the leaves and branches and destroyed them. That make the trees dry up and die, and it can two to three years for the trees to recover. We found out that bulldozers belonging to the settlers were used to rake our land near the Adei Ad outpost, where we have about 400 trees. When we went to file a complaint with the Binyamin police, a Jewish interrogator asked my uncle how we managed to take photos of the settlers, as if we were guilty.We also have an olive press which we started in the village in 2010. We work with farmers from al-Mughayir and the surrounding villages, such as Kafr Malik, Turmusaya, Abu Falah and Duma. The olive press’ operating cycle was always synced with the harvest season for 50 days, averaging 10 hours of work a day. It produced six tons of oil a day. We produced about 300 tons of oil in a season. This year, the olive press barely worked. We only managed to produce 60 tons of oil, which is about 20% of the normal annual output. Wasim Ladadwah from al-Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah told B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad:There are about 100 people in my extended family and we own about 450 dunams of land, half of them olive groves. Unfortunately, our groves are close to the settlements of Nahaliel, Kerem Re’im, Talmon and Haresha. During the current harvest season, we couldn’t harvest the trees because soldiers and settlers – some in army uniforms – wouldn’t let us get to them.On 11 October 2023, residents of the town, including my family, tried to access the olive groves close to the town. These lands are hundreds of meters away from the settlements, and no coordination was ever required to access them. But when we got closer, soldiers and settlers attacked us. There were about 30 of us, with women and children, and they threatened us with weapons and scared everyone. They destroyed some of the ladders and work tools we brought with us. Some of the farmers tried again to sneak into their groves, but those attempts failed too, because the army and the settlers are spread out day and night on the hilltops. The soldiers watch around the clock to follow farmers who try to get closer to their groves, including with drones. They shoot to scare them.Our loss is enormous. Each harvest season, we would produce about 250 cans of olive oil, each weighing 15 kg. In total, we would produce 3,750 kg of olive oil. Each kg costs NIS 40 (~ USD 10) on average. We lost it all, and that’s just our family. Everyone in the village lost a lot of money. I know this because I am a member of several committees in the village and an agricultural activist.The town has 14,200 dunams of land, 7,500 of them on the western side of town, which is surrounded by the settlements I mentioned earlier. That’s where our olive groves are. You could say that this year, more than 90% of the town’s olive oil production was stolen from us. The olive press in town usually produces about 10,000 cans of oil each harvest season, which is 150,000 kg of olive oil. This year, it produced only 500 kg of oil because the olives could not be harvested. We didn’t even produce enough for our own use this year, so we’ll have to buy that too, if we can even find oil on the market. After all, what happened to our town happened to all the towns and villages in the West Bank.Take me, for example. My family would produce 20 cans of oil each harvest. We’d consume four cans, which is 60 kilograms, and I would sell the rest. It was a significant income for us. This season, I was left with only three bottles, which are five kilograms. Some farmers were banking on the harvest season to finance the wedding of a son, or the construction of a house, or university studies. Other farmers, who are poor, waited for the harvest season because the income from it is their only source of livelihood, and they barely survive on that.The consequences of this crime also affect the olive trees themselves. Fruit left hanging on the trees rots and draws insects that damage the tree. This causes diseases that can dry out the tree, killing it. Leaving the fruit also greatly reduces the yield the following season, sometimes by half.

14 February 2024

Settlers attack palestinians during olive harvest in Surif, Hebron district. Photo by Shai Kendler, 11 Nov. 2021

Settler Violence = State Violence

West Bank olive harvest, 2021: Settlers attack farmers, steal olives and damage trees with full state backing

Settler violence against Palestinians is yet another method Israel uses to gain control of land in the West Bank. Settlers carry out a variety of violent acts against Palestinians, including physical assaults, stone throwing, threats and harassment, damaging of trees and crops, vandalism of cars, blocking of roads and even firing of live ammunition. As a result, Palestinians are afraid to go to their plots of land – which the state then takes over and uses for its own purposes. The Israeli authorities, including the security forces and the law enforcement system, are fully aware of this reality. They enable and back the settlers' violence, and then enjoy the outcome. Every year, settler violence during the olive harvest draws public attention in Israel and around the world– although for Palestinians, these acts are by now a routine feature of daily life. The temporary scrutiny is probably the primary reason why Israeli authorities claim to offer Palestinian farmers special protection during this season, in the form of a “coordination mechanism”: the military notifies farmers whose lands lie near settlements of specific days on which they are allowed to access their land for the harvest, and claims troops will be sent to protect them against violent settlers. Yet this mechanism, which is based on the absurd assumption that settler violence is an unalterable fact, was never intended to assist Palestinian farmers. Instead, its primary function is to create a false show of protection. Unsurprisingly, the mechanism does little for the farmers in reality: the days allotted to them are few and far between, and are often not enough to harvest all the olives. Since the farmers are barred access to their land all year round, they cannot tend to the trees, whose yield decreases. Even when the farmers reach their land on the scheduled dates, the military does not always protect them. Sometimes, no troops arrive, leaving the farmers vulnerable; at other times, soldiers do show up – but as soon as settlers appear, they quickly drive the Palestinians out of their own land, and do not balk at using force and weapons to do so. This year, the olive harvest season lasted from early October to the end of November. In that time, B’Tselem documented 45 incidents of settler violence against Palestinian harvesters and their property.* In these incidents, settlers physically assaulted farmers, stole crops, vandalized trees and damaged personal or agricultural property. Yet again, the violence was fully backed by the state – primarily by the military, which could have prepared for the attacks and prevented them, but instead allowed them to continue unimpeded. Even when soldiers were present, they often refrained from helping the Palestinian harvesters. In 18 of the incidents, security forces were present during the attacks. In 10 of these, the soldiers supposedly sent to protect the harvesters joined in the violence against them. In three of the 10 incidents, they even dispersed the harvesters using tear gas canisters, stun grenades and rubber-coated metal bullets. For example, on 23 October 2021, in the Turmusaya plain – an agricultural area in Ramallah District – about 20 masked settlers attacked harvesters with clubs and stones and injured several of them, including minors. They also vandalized and torched cars belonging to town residents. Soldiers who arrived fired tear gas canisters and rubber-coated metal bullets at residents who had come to help the families under attack. Two of the residents sustained minor injuries from the bullets. The 45 incidents B’Tselem documented in the 2021 harvest season appear on this map: OLIVE MAP The Israeli authorities, including law enforcement agencies, are well aware of this reality. Several official commissions of inquiry have examined the issue; human rights organizations issued dozens of reports on it; and the Knesset has held several debates on the matter over the years. Yet the policy remains unchanged. It will remain so as long as this reality continues to serve Israel’s long-term goals in the West Bank – chiefly, dispossessing Palestinians of their land. Only when Israel is forced to pay a price for implementing this policy, will change be possible. * One of the incidents took place in early December, as the Israeli DCO did not permit the farmers to reach their land earlier. The following testimonies were collected by B’Tselem field researchers Iyad Hadad, Salma a-Deb’i and Abdulkarim Sadi during the 2021 harvest season: In a testimony he gave on 23 October 2021, Muntasser Salameh (50), a resident of the village of Turmusaya in Ramallah District, described how settlers attacked him and his family while they were harvesting olives on their land: We couldn't see the settlers because the trees were hiding them, but pretty soon, some of them reached us. They were masked and were carrying clubs and sticks. They looked like a gang of robbers. We didn't have time to escape. They chased us, threw stones at us, and beat us with clubs and sticks. We tried to run and defend ourselves as much as we could. I was terrified for my daughters Sa'ida (10) and Janat (5). I picked them up, carried them away and sat them under one of the trees. Then I joined my brother and the young men who were there, and we tried to defend ourselves. The girls were crying and terrified, but I had no choice. I had to leave them so I could fend off the settlers... While I was helping the neighbors lift up the fence between our grove and theirs so the kids could escape, four settlers jumped me. Click here for the full report In his testimony, Yusef Hamuda (64), a farmer from the village of Yasuf in Salfit District, recounted how the settlers attacked him and his family on 15 October 2021 and how soldiers drove the family away from their land the next day: I looked around and saw more than 30 masked settlers with tarps and ladders. They started throwing stones at us with slingshots. A stone hit me in the head, my wife was hit in the shin and several stones hit my son in the back. We started running away while trying to defend ourselves and fend off the settlers [...] The next day, Saturday, 16 October 2021, we went out to our grove at around 9:30 A.M. When we arrived, six soldiers showed up and demanded we leave. They said that entering the area required prior coordination with the military. One of the soldiers grabbed my son Hamza (30) and tried to knock him to the ground, but Hamza stood firm. He said to us, "If we listen to them and leave this time, they'll force us to into prior coordination. This is our land, and no one will make us leave." Then the soldiers tried to constrain Hamza, and when my wife tried to get them off him, they pushed her. In the end, we managed to get Hamza away with great difficulty, because we were afraid they'd arrest him. Read the full testimony here Jomanah Suliman (44), another resident of Yasuf, was harvesting olives on 15 October 2021 in In a nearby plot. In her testimony, she described how she was attacked by settlers: When I tried to gather the olives I'd already picked, one of the settlers suddenly sprayed me with pepper spray. He was holding a canister in one hand and a gun in the other. I couldn't see a thing. I could only hear them shouting and swearing at me, and stones falling on the ground in every direction. A stone hit me in the shoulder and I fell down. I crawled to the road on all fours. My face felt like it was on fire. When I got to the road, I lay down on the ground, exhausted. I couldn't stand up. My whole body was trembling. I’ve heard that in a few days’ time, we’ll be able to go to the land with coordination . But who will come with me after what happened? None of the laborers will agree to come. It still gives me nightmares. What did I do? All I did was go to my land, my only source of income. I have no one to provide for me but God. They’ve ruined me. I'm in a terrible mental state. Read the full testimony here In his testimony, Diab Ladawdeh (90), a farmer from the village of al-Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah in Ramallah District, recounted how he discovered on 19 October 2021 that settlers had cut down 140 olive trees he had planted on his plot about 40 years ago: Last harvest season, in October 2020, the settlers put up a gate at the entrance to the road leading to our land, to make our access difficult. They hold the keys and decide who enters the land. The settlers don't allow anyone here to lead a normal life. They don't want to see any of us enjoy our land and benefit from it [...] While the neighbors and representatives of human rights organizations were counting the ruined trees, I watched from a distance. They counted 140 trees on my land that had been cut down with a chainsaw at the trunk, so they wouldn't grow back. I felt my heart tearing apart. I sobbed over the years of toil gone down the drain. Years of work wiped out overnight, with only a few remains left. I lost 140 trees, and I felt pain over every single one of them [...] I pray I'll be healthy enough to rebuild the plot with my sons and grandsons, restore it to its former state and fight the settlers' greed that way. They're doing everything they can to make us abandon the land, so they can take it over. Read the full testimony here Testimony of Ibrahim Salah (68), a farmer from the village of Far’ata in Qalqiliyah District, who discovered on 11 October 2021 that settlers had stolen olives and cut down trees in his grove: Before the settlers came and took over the land and put up trailers there, my grove had 450 fruit-bearing olive trees. Over the years, the settlers cut down or burned olive trees and raked land with trees on it. Now there are only 240 trees left [...] The settlers also started picking the olives before we managed to get to the land and harvest them. They can do that thanks to the coordination that the Civil Administration imposes on us. Since 2005, they've set specific dates for us and only allow on to go to the land on those days. They only give us one day to plow and spray herbicides, and only four or five days for the harvest itself [...] Usually, the dates set for us are relatively late in the season, and when we get there we find that the settlers have already harvested most of the trees and stolen the fruit [...] We gather what’s left of the olives as quickly as possible, within a day or two at most [...] All the harassment and assaults have made us and the other farmers afraid to reach the land, and we cultivate it less. It has forced my children to look for alternative sources of income, and they now work in Israel. Read the full testimony here Khalil Isma’il (46), a farmer from the town of Salfit, recounted how, on 3 October 2021, a settler stole olives from his land while a police officer looked on: On 3 October 2021, I was at home when a town resident called and asked if I was harvesting olives on my land that lies beyond the settlement fence. I immediately said I was home and that the date we’d been given to start the harvest was a week away. I realized the settlers were using the time until the Israeli authorities allowed us to access our land in order to pick the olives themselves… I got permission from the Israeli DCO to enter my land via the entrance to the settlement of Ariel. When I got to my land, I saw a settlers’ car. Inside it were sacks of olives they’d picked on my land. The car immediately drove out of the plot. I told the police officer who was there that he had to stop the car because it had sacks of my olives in it, but he didn’t care. Read the full testimony here * * * Qaryut, Nablus District: Israeli security forces guard olive theft from Palestinian grove In another incident, documented on video, about 30 members of the Johar family from the village of Qaryut in Nablus District came on the morning of 18 October 2021 to the first harvest day the military had allotted them on their land. They found a settler harvesting their trees, escorted by soldiers, Border Police officers and a settlement guard. The soldiers helped the settler gather his equipment and leave with the olives he had picked. When they checked the grove, the family discovered that settlers had harvested most of the olives from about 120 trees and uprooted and stolen about 10 fruit-bearing olive trees, leaving only pits behind. The family’s grove is located about 4 kilometers southeast of the village and is hemmed in on either side by the outposts of Kida and ‘Adei Ad.

25 January 2022

The Palestinian village of Nahalin and the settlement of Beitar Illit. Photo by Anne Paq, Activestills, 11 March 2019.

Settlements

This Is Ours – And This, Too: New report by B’Tselem and Kerem Navot reviews Israeli development of West Bank settlements over last decade

A new report issued today by B’Tselem and Kerem Navot, “This Is Ours – And This, Too: Israel’s Settlement Policy in the West Bank”, exposes the mechanisms Israel uses to encourage its citizens to move into the occupied territory. The report also reviews developments on the ground over the last decade, focusing on the spatial impact of the two large settlement blocs. Two key aspects of Israel’s policy are examined: First, the report details the official and unofficial ways in which Israel encourages Jews to move to settlements and develop financial ventures in and around them. Among other things, the state offers settlers housing benefits, allowing lower-income families to purchase homes. These benefits are one factor contributing to the growth in the settler population, which in 2019 numbered 441,619 people (in the West Bank, not including East Jerusalem) – an increase of 42% since 2010 and of 222% since 2000. In 2019 alone, the settler population grew by 3.2% – 68% more than the overall population growth rate for Israeli citizens and residents that year, which was just 1.9%. The two largest settlements – the ultra-orthodox cities of Modi’in Illit and Beitar Illit – have grown especially fast. By the end of 2020, they had a combined population of 140,053, comprising nearly a third of all settlers in the West Bank – an increase of 62% since 2010, when the combined population numbered 86,200, and of 435% since 2000, when they had 32,200 residents together. By offering housing solutions beyond the Green Line, the state is essentially exploiting the ultra-orthodox community’s low socioeconomic status and housing shortage to serve its own needs and further its agenda. The state also grants benefits and incentives to Israeli industrial zones in the West Bank by offering discounted land fees and employment subsidies to factories, encouraging their steady growth. More incentives, provided by various authorities, encourage settlers to take over Palestinian farmland and pastureland. Over the last decade, settlers have established some 40 sheep and cattle farms throughout the West Bank, taking over tens of thousands of dunams [1 dunam = 1,000 square meters] where access is now completely or mostly denied to Palestinians. Most of these farms lie on “state land” and control hundreds and sometimes thousands of dunams. Most are surrounded by farmland owned by Palestinians, whom settlers prevent from entering by employing violence, sometimes severe. Some of the pastureland these settlers have taken over, and the pathways leading to them, lie within areas Israel has declared firing zones. Second, the report analyzes the spatial impact of two settlement blocs that cut across the West Bank. The first bloc, built south of Bethlehem, includes the settlements of Beitar Illit and Efrat and the settlements belonging to the Gush Etzion Regional Council. The other bloc lies in the center of the West Bank and consists of the settlements of Ariel, Rehelim, Eli, Ma’ale Levona, Shilo and the outposts built around them. Some 121,000 settlers currently live in both blocs together, and expansion plans are underway to add tens of thousands of residents. Similar plans have rapidly increased the population in both blocs over the last decade. Implementing the new plans is expected to double and even triple the population of Efrat in the coming decades; Beitar Illit’s population is expected to grow by 20,000 and Ariel’s by about 8,000. The impact of the two settlement blocs extends far beyond their number of residents or the size of their built-up areas. The southern bloc severs Palestinian space between Bethlehem and Hebron and separates Bethlehem from its rural backland. The central bloc commands some of the most fertile farmland in the West Bank. The two blocs also command the main longitudinal and latitudinal roads in the area, fragmenting the West Bank into separate geographical units. Click here to enlarge map. Following the establishment of the two blocs, Palestinians lost access to thousands of dunams of farmland and pastureland – whether directly (in areas declared “state land” or closed by military order) or as a result of state-backed settler violence, which deters Palestinians from trying to access their land. Around the settlements of Tekoa and Nokdim, for example, Palestinians are barred access to at least 10,000 dunams. Around the settlements of Shilo and Eli and their satellite outposts, their access is barred to at least 26,500 dunams. Israel’s policies regarding the settlements are a clear expression of the Israeli apartheid regime, which employs various methods to promote and perpetuate the supremacy of one group – Jews – over another group – Palestinians – in the entire area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. Israel’s massive investments further entrench its hold on the West Bank, clearly demonstrating the regime’s long-term plans. These include cementing the position of millions of Palestinians as subjects denied rights and protection, who are deprived of any ability to influence their own future and are forced to live in disconnected, dwindling, economically suppressed enclaves. They are forced to look on as they are dispossessed of more and more land, while communities and infrastructure are built for Jews. Two decades into the 21st century, Israel appears more determined than ever to continue upholding and perpetuating an apartheid regime throughout the area under its control, well into the coming decades.

9 March 2021