Khirbet Yanun is located to the north of Aqraba town south of Nablus in the northern West Bank and it is facing single-handedly the crimes of the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) and its settlers.
Rashid Marar the former head of the village council said that nearly 80% of the residents of the hamlet were forced to leave it.
He pointed out that about 300 people are distributed among at least 25 families who used to live in Khirbet Yanun but today there are only 6 families and no more than 40 residents.
Marar said in the statement on Saturday that the first cause of the small population and their migration is the Israeli settlement activities which stole the lands and stole all the pastures in addition to the Israeli attacks on the citizens trees and livestock.
The former head of the village council noted that the IOA prevents the townspeople from building any structure even if it was made of zinc alloy. This forced the young men who want to marry to go and live in Aqraba town.
Marar underlined that the settlers took control of the pastures of the hamlet and let their cows and sheep graze on the lands which are only a few meters away from the residents’ homes.
He expressed his dissatisfaction with the marginalization that the Khirbet Yanun suffers from on the official level.
“There was a village council of Yanun but it was merged several years ago with the village council of Aqraba so that the hamlet became completely forgotten” he added.
The area of Yanun is 16450 dunums and the IOA confiscated 80% of its lands. The villagers can access 10% of their lands through coordination and permits from the Israeli military. These agricultural lands are close to the settlements and they are difficult to access due to the IOA’s impracticable measures imposed on the residents in order to obtain a permit to enter the lands.
