• Violation: Burning of two agricultural rooms.
• Location: Turmus’ayya town, Ramallah Governorate.
• Date of Violation: 07/07/2024.
• Perpetrator: A group of settlers.
• Affected Parties: Two families from the town.

Description:

 On the morning of Sunday, July 7, 2024, an attack was carried out by a group of settlers residing in an outpost located on the town's lands in the Al-Daharat area.

The settlers took advantage of the inability of farmers to access their agricultural lands within the Turmus’ayya plain due to restrictions imposed by the occupation authorities and repeated settler attacks that put the landowners' lives at risk. They set fire to two agricultural rooms in the plain, causing extensive damage.

The effects of the arson on the agricultural rooms in Turmus’ayya plain

Below are the names of the owners of the affected agricultural rooms and information about them:

Farmer Abdul Majid Jabara reported to the researcher from the Land Research Center:

"I own a piece of agricultural land planted with olive trees in the Termsaya plain area. For many years, the land was cultivated with wheat, and four years ago, it was planted with olive trees. However, since the aggression on Gaza, we have been unable to access the land due to the occupation's restrictions, settlers' attacks, and the army's closure of the area. On the afternoon of Sunday, on the mentioned date, we were shocked to see the settlers setting fire to the rooms and burning them completely. We could not reach the site because the occupation had closed it off and declared it a closed military area. The fire consumed the entire room and the adjacent agricultural room."

It is worth noting that farmer Abdul Majid Jabara supports a family of nine members, including four females and two children. The Termsaya plain area has been witnessing a noticeable and increasing number of attacks by settlers, in addition to the complete closure of the plain area and preventing farmers from entering and leaving. This has facilitated and escalated the frequency of settler attacks across the plain area, which covers 4,050 dunams.

About the Town of Turmus’ayya:

Turmus’ayya is located to the northeast of Ramallah, approximately 25 km from the city. As of 2017, the town's population is around 2,464 residents, mainly comprising two main families: Awad and Jabara, along with smaller families of refugee origin, including Shalabi, Kuk, and Hazmawi. The total area of Turmus’ayya is 18,139 dunams, of which 1,350 dunams constitute the built-up area. The land is classified into Areas B (11,218 dunams) and Area C (6,921 dunams). The occupation has confiscated large areas for settlement purposes:

Israeli settlements have seized 1,023 dunams from the village lands for the following settlements:

Shilo Settlement: Established in 1978, it confiscated 706 dunams and is inhabited by 1,810 settlers.

Mitzpe Rahel Settlement: Established in 1992, it confiscated 317 dunams.

The occupation also constructed part of the bypass road No. 60 on the village's lands, seizing 12.5 dunams.

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