Palestinian residents of Hableh village in the southeast of Qalqilya worry about what the future may hold for them amid threats of having their village annexed by the Israeli occupation along with other West Bank villages and cities.
Rich of water resources including 17 artesian wells and fertile lands Hableh has always been targeted by Israel’s settlement projects.
Repeated violations
Hableh is surrounded by a number of Israeli settlements that have devoured about 1250 dunums of its lands mainly Alfei Menashe Matan and Oranit settlements.
Since the occupation of the West Bank in 1967 the Israeli occupation authorities have repeatedly waged land seizure campaigns against the village especially in the years of 2002 and 2003 to expand their settlement activity including separation wall-related plans.
Annexation
In preparation for the annexation move Israeli occupation authorities have recently seized 160 dunums of the village’s lands after distributing 166 eviction orders to clear the way for the expansion of existing settlements and the establishment of new settler facilities.
Leader of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa al-Barghouti warned that the annexation involves dividing the West Bank which is already divided by Israeli settlements into 224 isolated islands.
In statements to the anti-annexation campaign “West Bank Is Ours” al-Barghouti said that it is a grave mistake to say the annexation does not mean anything because these areas are already under Israeli control.
Enforcing Israeli law in these areas is dangerous and changes the situation completely he stressed.
According to al-Barghouti the first threat arising from this move would be ending negotiations with Israel and as a result killing any possibility of establishing a Palestinian state.
Gradual takeover
Palestinian writer Yassin Ezz el-Din said “The [Israeli] occupation will not change everything all at once. Things will be changed gradually so that we don’t feel them and after five years we would be shocked by how everything had been completely altered.”
Ezz el-Din stressed “The plan can be foiled if we fight it with all our strength now before it is too late.”
He appealed to the Palestinian Authority to loosen its grip on Palestinian resistance factions in the West Bank and make way for popular action to thwart the Israeli annexation move.
