Palestinian farmers on Tuesday said that Israeli settlers have razed vast tracts of their lands near Ariel settlement north of Salfit without prior notice.
The farmers told the PIC reporter that they were allowed access to their lands on Tuesday after a three-day ban by the Israeli authorities and they were shocked to see their lands bulldozed by the settlers.
They added that about 30 dunums of land were bulldozed and the razing has not stopped yet.
Local sources said that the Israeli settlers’ recent land-razing operations serve as a prelude to a new plan to build 800 housing units in Ariel settlement which is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s election campaign.
They noted that the settlement expansion activity has been stepped up recently in Ariel. Based on a newly-approved project Israel has started the construction of several buildings for the Faculty of Medicine at Ariel University the only university in the West Bank settlements.
