A Palestinian family were joined by Israeli and Palestinian activists, among them MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash) as they protested the seizure of the family’s home and tussled with Israeli occupation forces near Beit Jala, northwest of Bethlehem in the West Bank, on Thursday, August 8.
MK Ofer Cassif during the demonstration against the Israeli confiscation of land in Beit Jala, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Aug. 8, 2024 (Photo: Zo Haderech)
Cassif said the family was being expelled from their home in the Al-Makhrour area of Beit Jala to make way for illegal settlements. “The occupation forces, with the encouragement and the policy of the far-right government, come here, expel the Palestinian family from its own land, destroy and demolish everything that was there, the house, the garden, the well, everything, in order to give it away to bigots, to Jewish settlers, racist settlers,” Cassif said. “That’s exactly what happened to my family in Poland 80 years ago!” he exclaimed.
The occupation forces used stun grenades to disperse the protesters. In footage from the scene posted by the Israeli-Palestinian Combatants for Peace, loud noises can be heard, and smoke can be seen rising next to the protesters. Combatants for Peace said the Qaisiya family had been trying to regain access to their land for several days but had been blocked by Israeli forces.
On Thursday morning occupation soldiers forced farmers from the village of Al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, to leave their lands. Local sources reported to WAFA that the occupation soldiers forced the farmers to leave the eastern plain area while they were reclaiming their agricultural lands. In addition, Israeli occupation authorities notified the Youth Agricultural Cooperative of the Sun Roots and farmers to remove and evacuate the greenhouses located in the Shuweika plain, north of Tulkarm.
A member of the Sun Roots Cooperative, Alaa Sarouji, said that an occupation army force stormed the greenhouses area and handed a farmer a removal notice, ordering to halt work in the area and remove the plastic greenhouses until September 3, 2024. Local sources affirmed that the decision targets approximately 10 dunums of agricultural land, noting that there are no constructions or buildings on the land, but only greenhouses and an agricultural room built in 1994. Meanwhile, land’s owners have documents approving their ownership of the land.
On August 5, the Occupation Administration along with Israeli forces demolished an agricultural water cistern in Al Jwaya community, Hebron governorate for lack of an Israeli issued permit. As a result, one family comprising 13 people including five children were affected. On 31 July, Israeli occupation forces demolished an agricultural structure, two animal shelters and an agricultural water cistern for lack of Israeli-issued building permits in Beit ‘Awwa, Hebron governorate. During the incident, seven water tanks were destroyed. The same water cistern was demolished in February 2012.
