Violation: cutting down olive trees.

Location: Jaba’a village / Bethlehem governorate.

Date: Oct 3^rd 2020.

Perpetrators: Beit ‘Ayin settlers.

Victims: Mohammed Abu Sabha.

Description:

Saturday , 3^rd Oct 2020 , Beit ‘Ayin settlers raided an olive grove belongs to Mohammed Abu Sabha’s family , and vandalized 60 olive trees (24 of them were completely damaged), the targeted trees age 30 years old – as reported-.

The targeted plot has a total area of about 22 dunums , planted with 180 olive trees , since 1994 illegal colonists have been targeting this plot on a regular basis , in early 2020 they cut down about 33 olive trees.

Abu Sabha  told LRC :

“The occupation forces prohibit us from entering our own plot without coordination, and they only give us permits during agricultural seasons. The International Red Cross intervened and got permit to harvest olives for me and few other neighboring farmers , when I got to the plot I found that most trees are  cut and some of them are completely damaged, I was told to file a complaint to the Israeli Occupation civil administration, but nothing was actually done to stop these attacks.”

Illegal colonists intensify their attacks in Jaba’a village , their intention is to get over Jaba’a lands in order to keep it as a reserve for future colonial expansion, many complaints were filed to the occupation police and so called civil administration , but nothing was done to protect palestinian farmers from such attacks at the time they are banned from accessing their own plots.

Photos 1-3: Olive trees vandalized in a Jaba’a olive grove

About Al-Jaba’a:

It is located 25 km to the northwest of Hebron city. It is edged by the villages of Nahhalin and Wadi Fukin in Bethlehem from the north, Surif in Hebron from the south and the armistice line from the west.

The village has a total area of 7968 dunums, of which 153 dunums are built-up area, where 1121 people live (2017 census).

The Israeli colony of Tsoref confiscated around 468 dunums from the village's lands, it was established in 1989 and is inhabited by 767 colonists.

The bypass road number 367 confiscated more than 514 dunums, where the annexation and isolation wall destroyed 340 dunums under its construction.

According to Oslo Accords lands classifications, Al-Jab'a lands are classified as follows:

• 300 dunums ( 4%) are classified as area "B", which is under Palestinian Authority control
• 7655 dunums (96 %)are classified as area "C", Which is under full Israeli Authority control

[1] GIS-LRC