Israeli occupation forces and illegal paramilitary colonizers carried out at least 1,693 attacks in April, continuing the cycle of systematic and serious violations against the Palestinian people, their land, and property, a report by the Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission reveals.
Key Violations
- Land confiscation: 54 dunams seized
- 1,168 olive trees uprooted
- 152 structures demolished and 46 more threatened with demolition
- Illegal colony expansion: 10 new colonial outposts attempted, mainly agricultural or pastoral in nature
Escalating Paramilitary Colonizer Violence
Attacks by paramilitary colonizers were concentrated in:
– Ramallah: 65 attacks
– Hebron: 59 attacks
– Nablus: 40 attacks
– Jerusalem: 30 attacks
In total, paramilitary colonizers carried out 231 thefts and acts of property vandalism, devastating Palestinian land and livelihoods. Among the worst violations was the uprooting of 1,168 olive trees, including:
– 530 trees in Ramallah
– 300 trees in Nablus
– 298 trees in Salfit
Attempts to Expand Illegal Colonies
Since early April, paramilitary colonizers pushed to establish 10 new colonial outposts, mostly agricultural, aiming to further fragment Palestinian land:
– Ramallah: 3 outposts
– Salfit: 2 outposts
– Jericho, Hebron, Tubas, and Nablus: 1 outpost each
This expanding colonization project follows a dangerous pattern: paramilitary colonizers initiate land grabs and infrastructure changes, and then Israeli authorities formally legalize these outposts, incorporating them into illegal colonies with full state services.
Land Seizures & Military Orders
Israeli forces issued four military orders seizing 54 dunams:
– Efrat illegal colony expansion (Bethlehem): 45 dunams
– Nikodim illegal colony expansion: 3 dunams
– A new colonial road connecting a military base to the main road between Silwad and Deir Jarir, near Ramallah.
Escalating Home Demolitions
In April, Israeli forces demolished 152 Palestinian structures, including:
– 96 inhabited homes
– 10 uninhabited homes
– 34 agricultural and other facilities
Demolitions hit hardest in:
– Tubas: 59 structures
– Hebron: 39 structures
– Jerusalem: 17 structures
Israeli authorities also issued 46 demolition orders, further tightening restrictions on Palestinian construction. These orders were concentrated in:
– Hebron: 16 demolition orders
– Ramallah: 14 demolition orders
– Jerusalem: 12 demolition orders
Israel has also begun forcing Palestinians to pay demolition costs in the West Bank, adding an extra layer of oppression. This was recently enforced in Masafer Yatta near Hebron in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.
|Report: Palestinian Killed, 58 Abducted, 24 Demotions In Jerusalem, In April|
This policy has always been enforced in occupied Jerusalem; either the Palestinians demolish their own homes, or the city council demolishes the properties before forcing the Palestinians to pay hefty fines, fees and the demolition costs, in in some cases face imprisonment.
Illegal Colony Expansion Plans
Israeli authorities reviewed 27 expansion plans, including new illegal colony neighborhoods:
– Nikodim Colony Expansion (Bethlehem): Approved plan for 290 new housing units across 239 dunams
– Ma’ale Amos Colony Expansion: Plan to build 148 new housing units over 42 dunams from Kisan village lands
Increasingly, Israeli policymakers aim to establish new colonial “neighborhoods” geographically separate from their parent colonies—a strategy designed to claim more Palestinian land and later formalize these areas as independent illegal colonies.
The latest move by the Israeli government saw 13 new paramilitary colonizer outposts officially reclassified as independent illegal colonies, further entrenching land theft.
All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory”.
