Violation: Attacks on farmers.

Date of Violation: November 10-11, 2024.

Location: Sikka– Dura town, Hebron Governorate.

Perpetrators: Settlers.

Affected Party: Residents of Sikka village.

 Introduction:

As part of the ongoing settler attacks on Palestinian farmers in the West Bank, settlers have increasingly targeted the lands ofSikkavillage, located west of Dura town in southern Hebron Governorate. Recently, this village has become a focal point for numerous settler assaults, primarily targeting lands and crops. These actions aim to displace farmers from their lands or force them to abandon them, thereby facilitating settler control over the area.

Ska village lies to the west of Dura town, approximately 12 km away, and about 20 km from Hebron city. It is considered one of the front-line villages of Dura, with a population of around 1,200 residents. The village is renowned for its olive cultivation, as well as winter crops and other rain-fed agriculture.

The image above shows a general view of Sikka village

The Separation Wall passes to the west of the village, having consumed parts of its lands. It comes very close to the village school and some residents' homes, at a distance of only a few dozen meters.

To the east of the village, approximately 3 km away, settlers established an agricultural (grazing) outpost in 2016, affiliated with the nearby "Negohot" settlement. The settler residing in the outpost owns a herd of livestock and employs a few worker) possibly family members(. He has taken control of thousands of dunums surrounding the outpost, frequently visiting these areas to graze his sheep. His activities have escalated, with numerous attacks on the lands of Sikka village and neighboring communities, which have noticeably increased in recent days.

Ska Village Council: Settlers Block a Vital Agricultural Road

The head of the Sikka Village Council, Mr. Walid Hashish, reported that on October 24, 2024, settlers blocked a vital agricultural road east of the village. He explained that a group of settlers, under the protection of the Israeli army, gathered east of the village (at the junction between Sikka and Tuwas villages) and installed a metal gate on the agricultural road leading to Kharsa Valley, locking it with a metal padlock. This effectively closed the road, preventing farmers from accessing their lands in the valley to the east.

Mr. Hashish noted that this gate is located in Area "B," under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority. He warned of the significant harm this closure would cause to farmers and landowners, as the gate prevents access to olive groves, winter crops, and grazing areas frequented by shepherds. He summarized some of the expected damages:

1. Restricted access to agricultural lands: Farmers will be unable to plow and cultivate their lands, especially as the season for winter crop planting approaches.
2. Hindered olive harvesting: Landowners will be prevented from reaching their olive groves to harvest their crops. The closure coincides with the olive harvest season in the village and surrounding areas, raising fears that settlers may steal or damage the crops.
3. Blocked grazing areas: Local shepherds and those from nearby villages will be barred from accessing these lands to graze their livestock. This will leave the settler shepherd in sole control of the area, allowing him to graze his livestock freely while increasing attacks on residents' properties and expanding settler control over the land.

A View of the Metal Gate Installed by Settlers

Notably, settlers installed the metal gate on an agricultural road branching off the paved road leading to Sikka village. On the asphalt, they painted arrows pointing eastward, towards the area behind the gate in the direction of Kharsa Valley. They also wrote in Hebrew the word “Spring,” implying that something in the valley, referred to as "Spring," is being highlighted. These arrows appear to guide settlers toward the “Spring area” or possibly a specific colonial project in the region.

Settlers Plow Farmers’ Private Lands

The Village Council of Sikka reports that settlers residing in the agricultural-herding outpost have, around the beginning of October, plowed a plot of land owned by a local farmer. The land belongs to Ibrahim Salama Rashid and is located in the northeastern part of the village, near the road leading to the town of Beit Awwa.

The head of the council noted that villagers observed the settler, accompanied by the settlement's security, plowing the 16-dunam plot. When the landowner tried to object and called the Israeli police to remove the settler from his property, the police arrived at the scene but did not remove the settler, who continued plowing the land. It was further explained that the settler sometimes plows these lands at night.

The citizens and landowners fear that the settlers will take control of their lands, especially since the one plowing the land is a settler farmer who owns herds of livestock. They fear that the settlers will seize their lands by force, using weapons, and proceed to cultivate and graze their livestock on the lands, thereby depriving the farmers of their properties. This is happening amidst the complicity of the Israeli occupation forces with the settlers.

The Sikka Village Council pointed out that last year, the villagers plowed and planted their lands with winter and grazing crops. However, the settlers took advantage of the war on Gaza and the restrictions on Palestinian access to certain areas under the pretext of "security concerns." They grazed vast areas of these lands with their livestock, causing significant losses to the landowners.

Dumping of Dead Animals and Waste on Farmlands and Near Water Wells

The agricultural grazing outpost is located approximately 3 kilometers east of Sikka village, separated by vast areas of agricultural lands and pastures, including plains and mountainous regions. However, the settler(s) residing in the outpost have been dumping dead animals and carcasses on farmers’ lands, among trees and crops, and even near and around agricultural water wells.

The head of the village council, whose family owns two wells on the eastern edge of the village, confirmed this behavior. These wells are frequented by a farmer from Beit Awwa and another from Sikka village, who use them to water their livestock. However, the settler travels about 2.5 kilometers from the outpost to dump dead animals and other waste near these wells, creating severe environmental and health concerns for the villagers and their livestock.

Dead Animals Dumped by Settlers Near the Wells     

The farmer Dawood Khaled Saeed Haribat (36 years old), who visits the well with another farmer, mentioned that he has witnessed the settlers multiple times throwing dead animals into the crops and among the trees. He noted that they had thrown them around the water wells twice in a row. Haribat fears that these carcasses may be infected or carry contagious diseases, which could harm his sheep and the sheep of other farmers. As a precautionary measure, he moves his sheep away from the area where the carcasses are located and tries to clean the area around the wells before his sheep reach it.

He expressed concern that the settlers might throw dead animals into the wells, despite him sealing them securely to prevent this. He also mentioned that he and the other farmer filed a written complaint to the occupation police near the "Kiryat Arba" settlement, but it did not deter the settlers from continuing these actions. 

Farmer Dawood Hreibat

Farmer Dawood Hreibat noted that foul odors emanate from the areas where dead animals are dumped, attracting rodents, flies, and insects, making it difficult to remain or work near these locations. This tactic forces farmers to abandon these areas, which he considers one of the methods settlers use to attack Palestinian farmers. Additionally, armed settlers frequently chase shepherds and prevent them from accessing grazing lands. Hreibat himself often cannot take his sheep out of their pens, as most grazing lands are now under settler control.

Attacks on Olive Trees and the Harvest Season

Like other areas in the occupied West Bank, the village of Sikka has suffered from the attacks of the occupation and settlers on olive trees and the olive harvest season, which coincided with the preparation of this report.

Ska is one of the villages whose olive-planted lands have been affected by the Separation Wall, which confiscated and isolated large portions of its land. Access to these lands, located behind the Wall, is restricted by the occupation authorities, requiring special permits and allowing entry only on specific days and for limited hours.

The head of the village council stated that approximately 100 dunums of olive-planted lands were seized by the Wall. These lands belong to families such as )Hashish, Zayer, Abu Samra, Qteet, Rashid, Ajjuri, and Abu Eid(. When construction of the Wall began around 2006, many trees were uprooted. Initially, the Wall consisted of barbed wire but was replaced with a concrete structure by 2016.

Access to the confiscated lands is now only possible through a gate in the Wall near Beit Awwa. The council head noted that during the 2023 olive harvest season, the occupation authorities prohibited farmers from accessing these lands, citing the “state of war” as a pretext, causing significant losses. Additionally, the lands suffered from neglect due to the farmers’ inability to maintain them for over two years.

As of 2024, the villagers are awaiting permits from the occupation authorities, hoping to gain access to their lands to harvest the olives .

A section of the wall passing through the olive fields in the village of Sikka is shown

As for the lands located to the east of the wall, near the homes and neighborhoods of the village, the Israeli army has prohibited working in them and harvesting the olives, citing "security" reasons as well.

According to the village council, several farmers from the Hashish family, who own large areas of land planted with olive trees, tried to access their lands to harvest the olives. However, Israeli soldiers came out from behind the wall, expelled them, and warned them not to return unless they had special permits. These "forbidden" areas are estimated to be around 200 dunams, and the farmers fear that their fruits will spoil as the harvest time has arrived, but the practices of the occupation have prevented them from doing so.

As for the lands of the village planted with olive trees, located to the north of the village, where the Israeli army has established a military tower for its soldiers, the Israeli army prohibits farmers from working on their lands surrounding the military tower, which are estimated to be around 40 dunams. Some of these lands are owned by the residents of the village of Ska, while the rest belong to citizens from the neighboring town of Beit Awwa. However, the ban applies to everyone.

Regarding the attack on olive trees through the method of fruit theft, farmer Dawood Haribat reported the following:

"I own an 8-dunum plot of land, which belongs to a farmer from the town of Beit Awwa, and I work on it under a sharecropping arrangement, receiving a percentage of the harvest. It is planted with mature, fruit-bearing olive trees. On approximately 6:00 AM on November 6, 2024, while I was grazing my sheep around the village, I saw three settlers riding a four-wheel agricultural vehicle who had intruded onto the land and began harvesting and stealing the olives. They continued working on the land for several hours. The plot is planted with over 50 mature olive trees, and I estimate that the settlers harvested and stole more than 500 kilograms of olives."

The settlement has besieged the village from all directions:

This report aims to highlight the environmental and agricultural damage caused to the village by settlement in general, and pastoral settlement in particular, as both complement each other and align with the same objective. A visitor to the village would clearly notice this and see it with their own eyes. However, the head of the village council described his village as a settlement-besieged village, and summarized the settlement-related damages to the village by stating:

1. The village has become besieged and surrounded by colonial projects from all three sides. To the west, there is the annexation and expansion wall; to the north, the military tower and the colonial road connecting the Nigehot settlement and other outposts to the occupied interior; and to the east, the Nigehot settlement and the pastoral outpost.
2. It was natural for the village to expand eastward, but the settlers took control of these lands, closing them off with a metal gate and chasing farmers if they tried to access them.
3. Given the practices of pastoral colonial activity, a decline in livestock numbers in the village is expected. The settlers have taken control of the grazing areas, and now the farmers in the village are forced to raise their livestock on expensive fodder.
4. With the occupation authorities prohibiting the use of the village's northern and western lands, especially in the al-Buq'a area (around 300 dunams), under the pretext of "security" due to their proximity to a colonial road, this will have a significant impact on the village's residents. These lands used to be cultivated with vegetables and grains, but since last year, they have not been planted after the occupation prevented any work on them.

مشروع: حماية الحقوق البيئية الفلسطينية في مناطق "ج" SPERAC IV - GFFO

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of Land Research Center and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the project donor; the Norwegian Refugee Council.

إخلاء المسؤولية: الآراء ووجهات النظر الواردة في هذا التقرير هي آراء ووجهات نظر مركز أبحاث الأراضي ولا تعكس بالضرورة وجهات نظر أو مواقف الجهة المانحة للمشروع؛ المجلس النرويجي. للاجئين