On Saturday, Israeli soldiers invaded Kafr Thulth village, south of Qalqilia in the northwestern West Bank, and confiscated a bulldozer after abducting its driver.
Media sources said the soldiers invaded the Qatayin Abu Saif area, in the eastern area of the village, and confiscated a bulldozer rehabilitating Palestinian lands.
They added that the soldiers also abducted the bulldozer’s driver, Khaled Fares Odah, and took him to a nearby military base.
The Israeli army claimed that the bulldozer was working on lands in Area C of the occupied West Bank, under its “full control.”
Khaled was working on privately-owned Palestinian lands; however, Israel imposes severe restrictions on the Palestinians, largely barring thousands of farmers in the West Bank from entering their lands in various parts of the West Bank, designated as Area C, where Israel continued to build and expand its illegal, segregated colonies in violation of International Law.
The occupied West Bank was divided into three areas – A, B, and C – as part of the Oslo Accords, signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel, in 1993 and 1995.
The agreements led to the establishment of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which was granted limited powers of governance in Areas A and B.
However, the outcomes of the Oslo Accords have left Israel in complete control of the Palestinian economy and its civil and security matters in more than 60 percent of the West Bank, designated as Area C.
Despite granting the PA control over administrative and internal security matters in parts of the West Bank, Israel maintains military control over the entire area.
