Ramallah: Israel has confiscated 5,000 dunams (one dunam is 1,000 square metres) of fertile lands in Beit Awla, west of Hebron in the West Bank, to continue the construction of the racist separation wall inside the Green Line.
Last week, Israeli soldiers took the farmers of the town of Beit Awla by surprise and handed them, in person, military orders related to the confiscation of their lands. They were ordered to vacate their lands which will turn into military zones. The owners were told not to get even close to them.
Sulaiman Al Adem, the Chief of Beit Awla Municipality, reported the case to the Palestinian authorities and urged them to take the necessary legal measures against the Israeli move.
He said that the confiscated land is owned by farmers from Beit Awla, Khalat Al Nahla, and Umm Al Khanazeer areas.
He said that the Israeli soldiers told the farmers that they have 45 days to appeal against the military order at the Israeli Courts. The soldiers told the farmers they were not supposed to come to these lands any more and that those who risk coming there will face death and tough consequences.
The Israeli soldiers also seized farming tools.
Al Adem said that this military order deprived tens of Palestinian families from their only source of income, where the Israeli soldiers did not even allow the farmers to take their cattle back home.
He said that farmers who lost their lands will file a complaint with the Israeli highest courts and will appeal against the military order.
