Despite the suffering, the land issue is ingrained in the minds of Palestinians, generation after generation (Anatolia)

Today, Saturday, marks the anniversary of “Land Day,” the events of which date back to 1976, when the Israeli occupation confiscated vast areas of Palestinian land. Since this date, the Palestinians have commemorated this anniversary annually on March 30 by launching several activities.

This year's anniversary comes amid the escalation of the ongoing brutal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, and the escalation of the settlement attack in the West Bank.

Israel is waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving tens of thousands of victims, most of them children and women, a humanitarian catastrophe and massive destruction of infrastructure and property, which led to Israel being brought before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide.

Since the start of the war on the besieged Gaza Strip, the occupation army has escalated raids and arrests in the West Bank, resulting in confrontations with Palestinians that left 454 martyrs and about 4,750 wounded, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

“Land Day” gained great importance for the Palestinians, as it was the first clash that occurred between the Palestinian masses inside the occupied territories and the Israeli authorities.

The beginning of events

In 1975, the Israeli government announced a plan to Judaize the Galilee region, to build residential complexes on lands belonging to Palestinians, who represent the majority in the region. This plan came within a project that the Israeli authorities called the Development of the Galilee.

On February 29, 1976, the government approved a decision to confiscate 21,000 dunums of land owned by Palestinians in the towns of Sakhnin, Araba, Deir Hanna, and Arab al-Sa'ad. Israel allocated these confiscated areas to build more settlements.

In anticipation of any Palestinian confrontation, the Israeli authorities announced a curfew in the villages that had witnessed land confiscation since 5 p.m. on March 29 of that year. Any demonstration held to protest the confiscation was considered illegal. It also threatened to shoot Palestinian demonstrators to prevent the strike.

In the context of confronting this decision, the Land Defense Committee, which emerged from local Palestinian committees, met and approved the declaration of a comprehensive strike the next day, which was March 30, for a period of one day only.

The spark of the protest demonstrations began on March 29 of that year with the launch of a popular march in the town of Deir Hanna, which was subjected to severe repression by the occupation forces, followed by another demonstration in the town of Arraba. The repression was stronger, during which a citizen was martyred and dozens injured.

The spread of the news of the citizen’s martyrdom led to the expansion of the circle of demonstrations and protests in all Palestinian regions the next day. The confrontations were concentrated in the Galilee and Triangle regions, especially the villages and towns of Arraba, Deir Hanna and Sakhnin, as well as the Negev Desert (south).

These confrontations led to the death of 6 Palestinians and the injury of dozens. The occupation refused to form a committee to investigate the circumstances of the martyrdom of these Palestinians, even though they carried Israeli identity cards.

The apartheid wall in 2002 isolated more than 295 square kilometers of Palestinian citizens’ land (Anatolia)

The confiscation of land

As Israeli policies continue to confiscate and steal land, the Palestinians consider the battle for land to continue to this day.

According to the report of the “Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission” of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Israel controls 42% of the total territory of the occupied West Bank, and 68.7% of the total area classified as (C), which is subject to occupation military rule, and its area amounts to a total of 61% of the total area of ​​the Palestinian West Bank. .

The area of ​​​​the areas classified as (A) amounts to 17.6% of the area of ​​the West Bank. While the percentage of areas classified as (B) amounted to 18.4% of the total area of ​​the West Bank.

Since Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967, the total area of ​​Palestinian land declared state land has reached approximately 1,700 square kilometers, or 29% of the total land of the West Bank, parts of which have been allocated for the establishment of settlements, placed at the disposal of the settlers, or left as a reserve for the growing needs of the Israeli settlement project. .

The number of settlers in the West Bank reached 740 thousand settlers, stationed in 184 settlements and 194 settlement outposts, including 90 agricultural and pastoral outposts that prevent Palestinian citizens from accessing more than 410 thousand dunums, most of which are in the Jordan Valley and the eastern slopes, equivalent to 4 times the area of ​​the existing settlements.

In 2023 alone, 18 new outposts were established, and the number of service, industrial and other settlement sites reached 52, in addition to 94 military sites and 40 military colleges.

The occupation authorities are looking into establishing more than 18,000 new settlement units, including 8,000 units that have been approved, in addition to another 10,000 units that have been deposited for subsequent approval.

Demolition and displacement

The report indicated that the area of ​​Palestinian land cultivated by settlers amounted to 120,000 dunums, and in 2023 alone, the occupation authorities seized more than 48,000 dunums of citizens’ lands under various names, including declarations of natural reserves, declarations of state lands, and others.

The total number of demolition notices distributed in the year 2023 reached a total of 1,330 notices, including (demolition notices, construction cessation notices), and 60% of these notices were concentrated in the governorates of Hebron, Bethlehem, and Ramallah.

Israel demolished 659 facilities, most of them in the governorates of Jerusalem, Hebron, and Jericho, and the occupation forces issued 32 military orders requiring the Israeli occupation army to seize an area of ​​619 dunums.

The occupation's measures led to the displacement of 25 Palestinian Bedouin communities, consisting of 266 families, including 1,517 individuals, from their places of residence to other places, including 22 Bedouin communities that were displaced shortly after October 7, according to the statement.

The statement explained that occupation measures and settler attacks prevented citizens’ access to more than half a million dunums of agricultural land.

The Commission monitored attacks on more than 21,000 Palestinian trees by destroying, uprooting, and poisoning, including more than 18,000 olive trees in the year 2023 alone.

The Settlement Resistance Commission indicates that the number of permanent and temporary barriers, including military or dirt gates and barriers that divide the Palestinian territories and impose restrictions on the movement of individuals and goods, has reached 700 military barriers and gates, including more than 140 gates that were installed after last October 7.

Finally, the Commission recalls that the apartheid wall erected in 2002 still isolates more than 295 square kilometers of Palestinian citizens’ lands.

Source: Anadolu Agency