Near the olive groves of Palestinian landowner Olayan Olayan, younger Israeli settlers are establishing an unlawful outpost on a UNESCO-protected hillside.
Olayan and his neighbors have lengthy fought to protect Battir, a heritage web site within the Israeli-occupied West Bank famend for its historical stone terraces.
Israeli development within the West Bank has surged because the battle started within the Gaza Strip, regardless of all settlements within the territory being thought of unlawful underneath worldwide legislation.
The new outpost on a Battir hilltop, unapproved by Israel, obtained an eviction discover that Olayan’s cousin, Ghassan Olayan, stated has not been enforced as a result of Gaza battle.
The outpost already incorporates a flagpole, residing quarters, and a barn for sheep that graze a rocky hill coated with olive timber belonging to Palestinian farmers.
“I plowed the land and planted it until it bore fruit trees,” stated Olayan, who at 83 is older than the state of Israel itself.
“Some trees were 50 years old, or even more, and suddenly the settlers came and wanted to devour the land and take it from us,” he added, his voice shaky.
Heletz settlement
Even extra regarding to the Olayans than the encroaching outpost is the adjoining, future settlement of Heletz.
Yonatan Mizrahi of settlement watchdog Peace Now stated Heletz was amongst 5 settlements “deep in Palestinian territory” accredited by the Israeli authorities on June 27.
“It is a settlement that is going to block Battir and in many ways create tension between the neighbors,” he stated.
Heletz and the outpost sit contained in the UNESCO safety zone for Battir, one in every of 4 listed heritage websites within the West Bank.
The UNESCO classification means the village can get technical, authorized, and financial help to protect endangered websites.
In Battir, kids splash within the Roman-era fountain that waters the terraces the place tomatoes, corn, eggplants, and olive timber develop.
The 2,000-year-old dry stone partitions supporting the panorama earned the village its cultural inscription in 2014. However, the classification has performed little to stop seizures of the encompassing farmland.
Battir’s inhabitants have crushed in court docket no less than three earlier Israeli settlement outpost makes an attempt.
But Ghassan Olayan fears the battle because the Oct. 7 Hamas’ incursion on Israel will make the brand new, government-approved Heletz extra more likely to change into a actuality.
Preventing statehood
According to Olayan, Heletz is meant to hyperlink Jerusalem to Gush Etzion, a cluster of settlements deeper within the West Bank.
If that’s achieved, Battir and the close by Palestinian villages could be reduce off from Bethlehem and the remainder of the West Bank, a course of they concern will fragment a future Palestinian state.
“There will be no territorial continuity,” stated Olayan, leaving solely what some observers describe as an archipelago of Palestinian sovereignty.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler himself, overtly states that stopping Palestinian statehood is the target.
“We will continue to develop the settlements in order to maintain Israel’s security and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he wrote on the social media platform X after the 5 newest settlements had been accredited in June.
In latest months, Israeli forces have blocked a street to Battir, practically doubling the time it takes to achieve Jerusalem simply 10 kilometers (6 miles) north.
When requested in regards to the new outpost in Battir, an Israeli safety official acknowledged that “an Israeli farm had been established without proper authorization.”
The official advised Agence France-Presse (AFP) “the possibility of authorizing the farm will be weighed” as the event of Heletz will get underway.
Battir residents “raised several claims that the land belongs to them” however have “not presented documentation to support their position,” claimed the official.
Olayan stated paperwork from Ottoman instances show Battir inhabitants’ possession of the land.
A UNESCO spokesperson stated the U.N. cultural company’s world heritage committee had been advised about “reports of illegal constructions” and that Battir could be mentioned at a session in late July.
Olayan fears that sleepy Battir faces a tough future with its collective life centered across the Roman fountain’s irrigation system allotting every household a particular time slot to water their crops.
“Battir is a peaceful village, and the settlement will only bring trouble,” he stated.
Source: www.dailysabah.com