The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested on Saturday a farmer and a foreign solidarity activist while they were on the farmer’s land near the Yakir Israeli settlement which is established on the lands of Deir Istiya town west of Salfit.
Eyewitnesses said that IOF arrested Amer Abu Hajleh and the solidarity activist and detained other foreign solidarity activists while they were on Abu Hijleh’s farmland helping him in picking olives.
Hajleh’s land is subjected to continuous attacks by Jewish settlers. The last of which was the building of a swimming pool inside it and transforming the area into a park for Jews.
Many towns and villages in Salfit province have witnessed Jewish settlers’ attacks in recent weeks coinciding with the quelling of the weekly marches against Israeli settlement activities.
There are 18 Palestinian communities in Salfit compared to 24 Jewish settlements including residential and industrial settlements and the percentage of lands allocated for Palestinian construction in Salfit is only about 6% of the total area compared to 9% for Israeli settlers.
The Israeli authorities expand the Jewish settlements and connect them to water electricity and sewage networks to form a settlement bloc that controls an area of up to 70% of Salfit’s lands.
Ariel is considered one of the largest Israeli settlements in the West Bank which was built on thousands of dunums of Palestinians’ lands in Salfit province. Israel seeks to annex it to Israeli sovereignty within a scheme that includes the Jordan Valley and several settlements built on the lands of the West Bank and Jerusalem.
