Ramallah, March 3, 2024: The head of the Colonization & Wall Resistance, Minister Moayyad Sha’ban, stated that the Israeli occupation authorities and their colonizers carried out 1195 attacks during February. Out of these attacks, 1066 attacks were carried out by the occupation army, while the colonisers carried out 129. These attacks are a continuation of a series of significant and dangerous escalations in attacks, often overlooked because of the terrible aggression against our people in Gaza, along with the emergency laws that grant the occupiers the impunity to execute further crimes.
Sha’ban added that the attacks monitored by the Commission in its monthly report, “Israeli Occupation Violations and Colonial Expansion Measures," for February, were concentrated in the Jenin Governorate with 212 attacks, followed by the Hebron Governorate with 174 attacks, and then the Jerusalem Governorate with 169 attacks.
Sha’ban also explained that the Israeli colonial occupational measures have taken on a dangerously vengeful and retaliatory form that was translated as confiscating vast areas of land, particularly the confiscation of 2640 dunums of privately owned lands in wilderness eastern Jerusalem at the end of February. The goal of this confiscation was to create a geographical continuity between the colonies of Ma’ale Adumim and Kedar, thus isolating the villages of eastern Jerusalem and completely separating them from the Bedouin communities in the area. Moreover, the occupation persistently executed the plan of creating buffer zones around colonies by issuing military orders to confiscate lands surrounding the Mitzpi Dani colony established on the privately owned lands of citizens in Deir Dibwan, east of Ramallah, covering an area of 18 dunums. Sha’ban emphasized that this action would prevent access to more than 320 dunums surrounding this colony for Palestinian residents.
Moreover, Sha’ban pointed out the approval by the so-called “Commander of the Central Region” of the occupation army of an order specifying the recognition and legalization of a new colonial outpost north of the town of Al-Ubaidiya, east of Bethlehem. This outpost, called the “Mitzpe Yehuda” outpost (now called “Mishmar Yehuda”) is considered an implementation of the occupation government’s decision in February 2023 to legalize 9 colonial outposts. The current order now allocates about 417 dunums in the area, outside the planned path of the Annexation and Expansion Wall to expand for the benefit of the new colony.
Sha’ban also stated that the number of colonizers’ attacks in February reached 129 attacks. These attacks were concentrated in the Nablus Governorate with 38 attacks, followed by the Hebron Governorate with 27 attacks, and the Ramallah Governorate with 17 attacks. Most prominent of these attacks was the attack by the colonizers on the town of Qaryut under the protection of the occupation army, while they carried swords and sabotaged water tanks in the town. In addition, colonizers shot at a shop and an electricity transformer in the village of An-Naqura, northwest of Nablus, causing a power outage in the village. Furthermore, a group of colonizers released their cows into about 120 dunums of wheat, barley, and chickpea crops belonging to citizens in Umm Al-Qaba in the northern Jordan Valley, under the protection of the Israeli occupation army, which led to its complete destruction.
Sha’ban indicated a significant and dangerous increase in confiscations and theft of citizens’ properties in February by colonizers. This included the theft of 50 sheep, two agricultural tractors, and a vehicle, in addition to stealing olive crops. Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation army confiscated a total of 50 vehicles belonging to citizens, 3 CCTV camera recordings, 6 bulldozers, and a truck. Additionally, 5 cases of monetary theft (gold and cash) and 5 cases of miscellaneous equipment confiscation were recorded, along with the confiscation of 10 mobile devices.
Sha’ban stated that the colonizers' attacks also led to the uprooting and burning of a total of 1,002 trees, including 692 olive trees in the governorates of Nablus, Bethlehem, Hebron, and Salfit.
He added that the occupation authorities carried out 31 demolition operations in February, affecting 51 facilities, including 18 inhabited homes, 16 uninhabited homes, 15 agricultural facilities, and others. These demolitions were concentrated in the governorates of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron. Likewise, in February, the occupation authorities issued a total of 34 notifications to demolish Palestinian facilities, which were concentrated in the governorates of Qalqilya, Jericho, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem.