Coronavirus: Israeli settlers exploit lockdown to annex Palestinian land
Israeli outpost in the West Bank
Akram Al-Waara reports in Middle East Eye:
Israeli settlers are exploiting a lockdown, imposed in the occupied West Bank to slow down the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, to annex Palestinian land and launch attacks against Palestinian civilians and their homes.
Over the past week, there have been at least three incidents of residents of illegal Israeli settlements razing Palestinian lands and paving roads in the districts of Nablus, Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
There has also been a spike in attacks against Palestinians and their properties, with Middle East Eye documenting abuses in the villages of Madama, Burqa and Burin.
“We experience attacks from the settlers a few times a month,” Ghassan al-Najjar, a 30-year-old activist in Burin, a village 5km south of Nablus, told MEE.
“But ever since we were put under lockdown because of the coronavirus, it has increased tenfold,” he said, adding that settlers, under the protection of Israeli soldiers, have been raiding the village daily.
According to Najjar, settlers from the Har Brakha settlement have been attempting to seize more land on the outskirts of the village, close to the settlement.
“The settlers know that people are staying in their homes because of the coronavirus, so they are trying to use it as an opportunity to attack us and take more land,” Najjar said.
While settler attacks in the West Bank are a common occurrence, activists from across the occupied territory have reported a spike in attacks since a state of emergency was declared due to the coronavirus pandemic earlier this month.