The Israeli Authorities decided on Tuesday to annex 80 dunams of farmland that belongs to residents of the northern West Bank area of Qalqilia for the construction of the Illegal Wall. The lands belong to residents of Azoun and Jayyous villages, near Qalqilia. Shawkat Samha, head of Jayyous village council, told the Palestinian Information Center that farmers received orders from the Israeli Military Command informing them that the army intends to annex the 80 dunams for the construction of a new section of the (illegal) Wall.
Samha added that the lands in question are located in the areas of Hameeda cave, Al Rougat, Al Khalees, Al Mhallalat, Al Karem Al Qibla, and Khallit Soufan; other lands are actually part of Azoun and are located in the areas of Al Thahir, Al A’waj, Al Manzil and Harayiq Ishaaq.
Jayyous is one of the villages which is most affected by the construction of the illegal Wall. It lost more than 9000 dunams during the earlier stages of the Wall’s construction, and three of its artesian wells are isolated behind the Wall.
The Wall’s route in the occupied West Bank creates space for the expansion of the illegal Israeli settlements, and snakes around most Palestinian lands and natural resources in order to include them in what will become “the Israeli side”.
