Mount Sobeih southeast of Nablus in the northern West Bank is the site of real confrontation and had become part of a Palestinian battle against the establishment of the Israeli Avitar outpost.
For almost two months the people of Beita town have been engaged in violent confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on the mountain to prevent the occupation and Jewish settlers from controlling the mountain.
Targeted area
The settlers re-established in early May a settlement outpost they called “Avitar” on the top of the mountain. This angered the Palestinian residents who organized demonstrations and popular resistance to uproot the outpost built on the top of the mountain overlooking the main road between Nablus and Ramallah.
Local sources reported that the settlers built about 30 houses on the mountain under the protection of the IOF which triggered clashes between the Palestinian youths on the one hand and the IOF and the settlers on the other hand.
Hajj Muhammad Khabisa stands on the edge of the mountain recalling how he used to climb on its summit a few years ago plow the land and plant figs grapes and olives there. He along with his family and many other families from his town and neighboring towns used to come during the harvest seasons to reap what they plant.
Khabisa pointed out that the situation has changed in recent years as the entire mountain has become a target of settlement activities.
Avitar: Outpost built for 4th time
This is the fourth time that settlers have placed mobile homes on the top of the mountain. The IOF had set up a camp for them before the Palestinian owners of the mountain forced them to remove the camp.
The settlers call the outpost they set up on Mount Sobeih “Avitar” after a settler who was killed in a stabbing attack in 2013 at the Za’tara checkpoint.
At that time the settlers began erecting the outpost in a site used by the IOF as a military post but the residents of Beita confronted them forcing the IOF to dismantle it.
In 2018 the settlers resumed their attempts after the killing of a settler near the Ariel settlement built on Palestinian lands north of Salfit. They installed mobile homes and connected them with electricity and water and the citizens confronted them and the IOF soldiers resorted to dismantling the outpost again.
In June 2018 the occupation authorities issued a decision confiscating 25 dunums of private property in Mount Sobeih claiming that they would be used for military purposes.
Trying again
Following a shooting attack carried out by a Palestinian at the Za’tara checkpoint in early May and the military search campaign in villages southeast of Nablus the settlers rushed to exploit the opportunity and resumed their efforts to re-establish the settlement outpost.
In record time and with the support of the IOF the settlers set up tents then installed mobile homes on the top of Mount Sobeih and started building houses the number of which gradually increased to more than thirty.
Furthermore the settlers worked to pave internal roads and build more buildings on the mountain.
Mount Sobeih is located between three Palestinian villages Qabalan Yatma and Beita south of Nablus. The mountain is owned by Palestinians from the three villages who have ownership documents.
Three martyrs in the battle to restore the mountain
Every time the IOF and settlers try to control the mountain the residents confront them in almost daily clashes that become more violent on Friday and Saturday.
During the last few days three Palestinians were martyred during the battle to defend the mountain. The most recent of whom was the child Muhammad Hamayel 16 who was martyred on Friday 06/11/2021. He was preceded by the martyrdom of Issa Barham a public prosecutor and holder of a doctorate on May 14 and Zakaria Hamayel a teacher on May 28. Dozens of citizens who insist on continuing the battle to defeat the settlers and restore the mountain were also injured.
Settlement Belt
Mousa Hamayel the deputy mayor of Beita confirms in a press statement that controlling the mountain is part of a well-prepared Israeli plan to separate the northern areas of the West Bank from its southern areas.
Hamayel explained that this was done through what is known as the Settlement Belt i.e. completing the linking of settlements from the Ras al-Ain area located on the 1967 borders to the Burkan settlement in Salfit and from there to one of the largest settlements in the northern West Bank which is Ariel. Then from there to the Taffouh settlement which was built near the Za’tara checkpoint and from there to Mount Sobeih.
He pointed out that the mountain constitutes a strategic location overlooking most of the villages and towns south and east of Nablus all the way to the settlements in Jericho and the Jordan Valley.
“This is not an exaggeration but rather a malicious settlement plan which will eliminate any opportunity for Palestinian geographical contiguity” he underlined.
The mayor warned that this outpost on the top of the mountain will turn the villages of Beita Yatma Aqraba Qablan and Usrin into a large prison and will seize tens of thousands of dunums of Palestinian agricultural lands.
