By Maysa Omar, Published in Arabic By WAFA News: On a hill overlooking the village of Jinsafut, east of Qalqilia, nearly 50 dunams of agricultural land in the western area known as Khallet al‑Qarnein are facing growing colonial encroachment. The land, owned by families from the village, has been inaccessible to its farmers since October 2023.
Around 45 farmers have been barred from reaching their plots—many of them planted with centuries‑old olive trees—under the pretext that the area lies close to the Israeli military post “Ramat Gilad” to the southwest and adjacent to the colonial outpost “Shvut Ami.”
In recent months, the area has witnessed a marked escalation in colonial activity, as Israeli authorities move to impose new facts on the ground through gradual, coordinated measures aimed at tightening control and transforming the site into a new outpost at the expense of village lands.
According to Saher Eid, head of the Jinsafut Village Council, the first signs of this expansion appeared about a year ago, when Israeli bulldozers began leveling parts of the area and carving roads through it under the claim of “security needs.” He said these steps clearly served the expansion of surrounding outposts.
Eid explained that the outlines of a new colonial project became unmistakable by late May, when residents noticed an increased presence of colonizers in the targeted area. They spent long hours there during the day before bringing in mobile homes and beginning to stay overnight—an alarming indication that a new outpost was being established in practice.
As their presence continued, the number of mobile homes grew, accompanied by nighttime work to prepare and fence the area. The site now contains around six mobile homes housing six colonial families, and construction activity remains ongoing.
Eid warned that these developments will have a direct and severe impact on the village’s agricultural sector. Farmers will face further restrictions on accessing nearby lands, potentially losing the ability to cultivate nearly 400 additional dunams, on top of the 50 dunams already seized for the new outpost.
For farmers like Mohammad Basheer, the loss is deeply personal. Basheer, who has been unable to reach his five‑dunam olive grove in Khallet al‑Qarnein since 2023, said the land was not only a source of income but also a cherished inheritance from his father. “Losing the land feels like losing a part of him,” he said.
Farmer Husam Allan, who owns four dunams near the expanding outpost, expressed fear that he may soon lose access to his land entirely. The constant presence of colonizers, he said, threatens the ability of farmers to remain on their property, especially amid rising attacks around the village.
The same concern was echoed by farmer Attallah Rezeq, who owns two dunams of olive trees. He warned that the ongoing seizure of land and the ban on access signal a gradual, systematic loss.
He called for immediate intervention to halt the expansion and protect what remains of Jinsafut’s agricultural lands, which he said could be taken at any moment.
