JEWISH SETTLERS KEEP ANNEXING MORE LANDS IN SALFIT

Salfit, 22 Dzulqa’dah 1436/6 September 2015 (MINA) – Palestinian citizens from four villages to the west of Salfit have complained that Jewish settlers persist in annexing their agricultural lands and bulldozing them without stop.

Eyewitnesses said that heavy construction machinery were seen preparing a vast tract of land west of Salfit for the establishment of a service infrastructure for the illegal settlement of Leshem, including water, sewerage, electricity and telephone systems, The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Specialist in settlement affairs Khaled Ma’ali stated that the towns of Kafr Addik, Sarta, Rafat, and Deir Ballut suffer from the ongoing expansion of Leshem settlement at the expense of their agricultural lands.

Ma’ali added that Leshem settlement used to be an outpost before it was declared in 2013 by the Israeli government as a settlement, affirming that another 24 settlements and outposts keep devouring different Palestinian areas in Salfit province.

In a related incident, Jewish settlers from Beit Aryeh recently embarked on bulldozing about 200 dunums of Palestinian land in order to expand their settlement, which is located northeast of Deir Ballut town in Salfit.

A Palestinian farmer from the town reported that an Israeli bulldozer driver told him that he was preparing the area for the expansion of Beit Aryeh settlement and the construction of a Jewish cemetery.(T/P008/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)