ISRAELI FORCES CLOSE 3 ROADS IN QALQILIYA VILLAGE

File photo of a march in Kafr Qaddum. (Photo: MaanImages) — File photo of a march in Kafr Qaddum. (Maan Images)

Qalqilyia, 21 Shawwal 1436/6 August 2015 (MINA) – Israeli military forces on Thursday closed three agricultural roads in the Qalqiliya village of Kafr Qaddum and uprooted several olive trees, locals said.

A local coordinator for popular resistance, Murad Shtewe, said Israeli forces have recently escalated violations against village residents in a bid to stop weekly Friday rallies, Maan News Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Soldiers also uprooted three olive trees belonging to Ali Abdul-Rahim.

Residents of Kafr Qaddum stage regular protests, including a weekly Friday march, to protest land confiscations as well as the closure of the village’s southern road by Israeli forces.

Also Read: GAZA WATER SITUATION NEEDS URGENT SOLUTIONS

The road, which has been closed 13 years, is the main route to the nearby city of Nablus, the nearest economic center.

Kafr Qaddum has lost large swathes of its land to Israeli settlements, outposts and the separation wall, all illegal under international law.

According to the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem, more than 10 percent of the village’s land has been confiscated for the establishment of the settlements alone — Kedumim, Kedumim Zefon, Jit, and Givat HaMerkaziz. (T/P010/R04)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)