Bypass roads are the most dangerous Judaization settlement measures in the West Bank

The old Huwara Road is used by Palestinians, settlers, and the occupation army (Al Jazeera)

Nablus

- 4 years ago, when the Palestinian Muhammad Dhamidi collected the remaining roots of his olive trees that were uprooted by Israeli bulldozers from his land, in the town of Huwwara, south of Nablus in the West Bank, and replanted them again, he did not know that the ambitions of the occupation would reach them again, and would even go beyond them and target the land. All of them are in favor of a settlement bypass road, built by the occupation to serve the settlers and preserve their security.

“Hawara Settlement Street” - as it has become known - is one of dozens of settlement roads through which Israel circumvents the laws, the terrain, the lives of the Palestinians and their property, to confiscate their lands in the West Bank, serve the settlers and maintain their security.

Through the “Al-Sabat” land owned by the citizen Dhamidi, the new settlement road passed, cutting off 10 dunums of it (10 square kilometres) out of 25 dunums that make up the entire land area, and uprooting 150 long-lived olive trees, thereby destroying the land and causing it to lose more than 50% of its production. Annual oil.

Dhamidi and his father walking on the settlement road that the occupation built on their land (Al Jazeera)

Target what's left

The occupation's ambitions did not stop at cutting down trees, building a road, and confiscating the land. Rather, the danger expanded to affect what was left of it, after it built a military point there, and issued orders to the citizen Dhamidi not to approach the street for a distance of 150 meters, citing the security threat.

After the settlement street restricted his freedom and movement to his land, he told Al Jazeera Net, "The occupation's procedures, barriers, and military point restricted my access to the land, in time and space, and the road that used to take about 5 minutes now requires more than half an hour."

In addition, the occupation changed the topography and appearance of the land by bulldozing it extensively, causing its owners to lose both its geographical and moral value, and all of this happens before the eyes of Dhamidi, who watches what is happening with regret and is unable to do anything.

Dhamidi is one of about 300 Palestinian citizens who were affected by the “Huwara Settlement Road” from the town of Huwara and neighboring villages, after 1,100 dunams of their land were confiscated, in favor of the road that extends for about 10 kilometers, and specifically serves 5 settlements south and east of Nablus, in addition to settlements in the northern West Bank.

Dhamidi inspects his olive tree, which was bulldozed again by the occupation and deprived him of his land (Al Jazeera)

Looting under the pretext of security

Rana Abu Haniyeh, who monitors the settlement file in the municipality of Huwwara, says, “The damage to the road and its devouring of the land gradually appeared. After confiscating 1,100 dunums, the occupation followed with about 500 other dunums in favor of towers and military points that they installed along the street, and setbacks 50 meters wide on both sides of it, called “Haram.” The street extends for approximately 10 kilometers.

Abu Haniyeh added to Al Jazeera Net, "The danger of the street lies in its targeting of plain lands estimated at 2,400 dunums, which constitute the source of income for citizens, and Palestinians are prohibited from approaching the street because it is a military zone."

The occupation installed military gates on the edge of the settlement street, thus closing the town, turning it into a large prison, and cutting off its communication with neighboring villages. “The most dangerous of all is that the settlers will use the settlement street to launch their attacks and assaults on citizens passing through the main and old Huwwara Street, through which only Palestinians pass,” according to Abu. Haniyeh.

Abu Haniyeh fears that the settlers will continue to use the old street, especially since they are doing so now and demonstrating against the Palestinians if they use the streets taken by the settlers.

In all ways, Israel sought to Judaize the lands of the West Bank and settle them, through many measures that varied between military orders and expropriation, establishing the separation wall, seizing property, constructing natural reserves and bypass roads, preventing construction, and many others.

Building a settlement road linking the "Ariel" settlements based on Salfit lands in the northern West Bank (Al Jazeera)

"Palestinian cantons"

According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, these measures confiscate 42% of the area of ​​the West Bank, which is equivalent to 5,800 square kilometers, and 69% of the total area of ​​Area C. However, what is confiscated by the bypass roads alone amounts to 135 square kilometers of the total area of ​​the West Bank. Of these, 112 kilometers are from Area C.

Settlement expert and documentation official at the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Amir Daoud, says, “Bypass roads are among the most dangerous settlement measures, as they are built to connect settlements and outposts to each other, and are intended to connect the settlements inside the West Bank with the Palestinian interior, which Israel has occupied since 1948.”

The most dangerous thing, according to Daoud’s description, is that “these roads isolate the Palestinian communities and turn them into cantons, which is a concept that Israel has been working on for 30 years, and we experienced it as a reality during the current war.”

Bypass roads are being built within the settlements with the aim of expansion and also confiscating the land. With the beginning of the war, the occupation closed roads that the Palestinians had been using for years and considered them military, and some of them were seized, especially those on or near which commando operations took place.

Settlers chase citizens on this road south of Nablus to impose control (Al Jazeera)

Circumventing laws

Daoud says, "In the Deir Bezig commando operation a week ago, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Transportation Minister Miri Regev said that they were about to build a new bypass road called 935 that would connect the settlements and streets there to each other. Before that, they banned Palestinians from walking on the Maale Adumim settlement road east of Jerusalem." .

By constructing these roads, the Palestinians’ land is not only confiscated, but according to Daoud, it also violates international law, “which allows the occupier to appropriate the land in order to serve the interests of both parties, the Palestinians and the settlers, and prevents the construction of roads for the settlers.”

After that, Daoud adds, "The occupation closes these roads to the Palestinians and gives them to the settlers. What is more dangerous is that the settlers themselves are taking the initiative to build settlement roads through private Palestinian lands, and later the occupation government proves this to them as a fait accompli policy."

Source: Al Jazeera