Israeli authorities on Wednesday issued two military orders grabbing hundreds of dunams of farmlands near the settlements of Kiryat Arba’ and Kharseena, east of Hebron, in order to construct the Separation Wall in the area.
The two orders were handed to the residents, informing them that the army intends to annex their lands and that they have one week to file legal objections to the High Court, according to a source at the General Committee for Land Defense.
The source stated that the first order annexes farmlands in Khallit al-Bweira, Khallit al-Dhabi’, al-Sanasil, Batn al-Beer, Khallit al-Batma, al-Baq’a, and Wad abu Ayyash.
The lands are 6,630 meters long and 14 meters wide.
The second order grabs lands in the same area but without specifying the farmlands which will be isolated behind the Separation Wall.
Abdul-Hadi Khantash, an expert on maps and settlements, said the Israeli authorities did not mark the size of lands to be grabbed under the second order in order to prevent the residents from filing legal appeals.ÂÂ
The lands, totaling 300 dunams, are owned by residents Omar al-Ahrab, Fathi Ziad, Jamil Sultan, and Jaber family.
“The two orders are part of a wider Israeli plan to expand the settlements if Keryat Arba’ and Kharseena’,†Hantash said.
