Ramallah, Land Day: Earlier today, the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission released a statement to commemorate the forty-seventh anniversary of Land Day. This statement highlighted the most prominent measures of the Israeli occupation’s state to control the Palestinian land and distort the Palestinian geography to undermine any possibility of establishing a Palestinian state. Currently, the area of the Palestinian territories controlled by the Israeli occupying forces is 2,380 square kilometers, which makes up about 42% of the total lands of the occupied West Bank and 68.7% of the areas classified as "C". These areas are subject to occupation measures and military rule, making up about 61% of the total area of the occupied West Bank. The areas classified “A” make up about 1,000 km2 or 17.6% of the occupied West Bank, whereas, areas classified as “B” make up 18.4% of the total area.
Sha’aban added that since the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by the Israeli occupation authorities in 1967, around 30% of Palestinian lands were declared “state lands” by the Israeli occupation authorities, totaling approximately 1,700 square kilometers. These lands have been allocated to establish colonies, have been placed at the disposal of colonies, or have been put at the disposal of the growing needs of the Israeli colonial project. Sha’aban added that the number of colonizers in occupied West Bank colonies reached a total of 726,000 colonizers, residing in 179 colonies and 186 colonial outposts, including 83 agricultural outposts that control more than 270,000 dunums (most of which are concentrated in the Jordan Valley and eastern slopes), and equivalent to three times the area existing colonies. In 2022 alone, 12 new colonial outposts were established, and the number of service, industrial, and other colonial sites reached 52, as well as 94 military sites and 40 military colleges. While the area of Palestinian land cultivated by the Jewish colonizers reached 120,000 dunums. In 2022, the Israeli occupation authorities seized more than 26,000 dunums of citizens’ lands under various pretexts, including declarations of natural reserves or state lands.
Sha’aban reported that the Israeli occupation authorities continues to issue demolition notices and carrying out brutal demolition of Palestinian construction in its constant endeavors to besiege Palestinian construction and the natural growth of the Palestinian land. The total number of demolition notices distributed in 2022 reached a total of 1,220 notices, which included demolition notices, construction moratoriums, and opportunities to contest demolition orders. 60% of these notifications were concentrated in the governorates of Hebron, Bethlehem, and Ramallah. Moreover, there were 378 demolitions that were issued in the governorates of Jerusalem, Hebron, and Jericho, accounting for more than 62% of the total demolitions in the occupied West Bank governorates. Additionally, previous orders of this nature were neither renewed nor amended. In 2022 alone, the Israeli occupation authorities declared 3,918 dunums as state lands, in preparation for handing them over to the settler-colonial project.
Sha’aban added that there are currently 593 military checkpoints and gates that divide the Palestinian territories and impose limitations on the movement of Palestinians and goods. These include permanent and temporary barriers, such as gates, military checkpoints, and earthen barricades.
Sha’aban said that the Annexation and Expansion Wall erected by the Israeli occupation state in 2002 continues to isolates 295 km2 of citizens' lands, indicating that if the planned parts were completed, it will completely isolate 560 km2. Moreover, Sha’aban pointed out that the economic and social impact of the Wall is persistent, significantly affecting the lives of citizens and their lands.
Sha’aban ephasized that Land Day is a national occasion to rally around the popular resistance across all areas of Palestinian presence. The aim is to protect the Palestinian capabilities in the face of the Israeli colonial occupation plans. He also called for activating the night protection committees, specifically in areas constantly targeted by colonizers, to repel the attacks and protect Palestinian citizens.