This morning, Occupation Forces started destroying several buildings in Azzoun Attma â south Qalqiliya. Occupation Forces invaded the village at 4:30am and imposed curfew, closing the gate and not allowing anybody in or out the village. In the area of Bir Shilla, located in the south-southwest of the village, Two houses were destroyed and a one-half of a third house was lost. The two destroyed houses were some 700 meters away from the settlement of Sh’are Tikva, and though they were not the closest to the settlement, Occupation Forces destroyed them under the pretext of not having building permits. Occupation bulldozers also destroyed two water cisterns and a poultry farm belonging to Hani Amer – the isolated family in Masha. In addition, another ground well, water cisterns and a farm belonging to farmers from Masha and Sanniriya were also destroyed.
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For more than a year, the Apartheid Wall has isolated Azzoun Attma from the rest of the West Bank and large areas of the lands belonging to its farmers as well as those from Beit Amin, Sanniriya and Masha villages. Palestinians cannot access the village unless they have an address from Azzoun Attma written on their IDs or if they have a permit to enter the village, mainly the case for teachers and some farmers.
Azzun Attma is surrounded by the settlements of Sh’are Tikva from the east, Oranit from the west and Etz Efraym and Elkana from the east and southeast. Previous Occupation maps showed that the Wall would completely surround the village from all sides, turning it into a ghetto and further isolating it from its lands and surroundings. However, new maps and sources seem to indicate that Occupation Forces are not planning to build the Wall around the village, but rather to leave it isolated. However, Occupation plans to expel the people are still moving forward, simply using means other than the Wall, such as isolating them from all essential services and demolishing houses and agricultural establishments belonging to the people in the village and the other nearby villages. Since the Apartheid Wall was completed in this area, some 24 houses in addition to other agricultural and water establishments have been threatened with demolition. By using such tactics to forcibly evacuate the people from their lands and villages, Occupation Forces clear the way to confiscate the isolated lands for settlement expansion and essentially “clear away” the entire village.