Occupation Forces Begin Building New Settlement in Qalqiliya District
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Occupation Forces Begin Building New Settlement in Qalqiliya District

***image3***Occupation Forces began on Wednesday, September 14, building a new settlement on Izbat Salman and Izbat Jalud lands, located in the southern Qalqiliya District.

Occupation Forces started destroying and demolishing lands in this area this past August when destruction took place on the southeast side of the villages in order to build the new settlement, which is located near the settlement of Oranit that has destroyed and stolen lands of adjacent villages.

The Occupation and its settlers have placed some 40 new settlement housing units for the establishment of the new settlement which has been named Nof Hasharon; 350 dunums of Izbat Salman and Izbat Jalud lands have already been destroyed to build the new settlement.

Izbat Salman and Izbat Jalud exemplify how the Occupation targets the Palestinian people and their land., First, with settlements and land confiscation; and, then with the Apartheid Wall, which seeks to isolate Palestinians from the lands that remain while surrounding the villages from three sides.

The Apartheid Wall in Izbat Salman has isolated and destroyed 3200 dunums of the village’s lands and creeps-up just 200 meters away from the village homes, at some points nearing the residential area by just 20 meters. For the building of the Apartheid Wall in Izbat Salman, the Occupation Forces uprooted and isolated 5000 fruit-bearing olive trees. With the building of this latest settlement, a new phase has begun for the villages in this area ensuring the final theft of their land and leaving farmers with nothing, once again bringing to the surface the role of the so-called “access gates” which are not only inaccessible but exist to isolate Palestinian lands in order for them to be taken over by settlement expansion.

The residents of these villages, located in the southern part of the Qalqiliya District, continue to suffer in their isolation from Qalqiliya City, which is the district commercial center, included in which are medical and other services. Despite the fact that these villages are just kilometers away from the city, the Occupation Forces have completed the Apartheid Wall in this area which ensures a difficult, time-consuming, painful, and humiliating journey to reach the city.

The residents of these villages depended upon work inside the Green Line but following the start of the Intifada and the closures and sieges imposed daily by the Occupation, followed by the building of the Apartheid Wall, people had to return to work their lands and farms. This has now become impossible for most as lands are either isolated, confiscated, or destroyed. Some 85% of the people from these villages have their main source of income and livelihoods from their lands.

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