Israel’s war on the West Bank comes for Palestinian greenhouses
Hakam Salim in his greenhouse in the village of Jayyous, occupied West Bank, 7 April 2026
Meron Rapoport reports in +972 on 7 May 2026:
Hakam Salim stood in his pepper greenhouse on the lands of Jayyous, a village east of Qalqilya whose farmland lies partly in the so-called “seam zone” — the strip of West Bank territory caught between the Green Line and Israel’s separation barrier. Building the nursery cost him more than NIS 30,000 ($10,190), with tens of thousands more invested in preparing the land.
A typical greenhouse in Jayyous generates NIS 50,000 to 60,000 annually before expenses. For Salim and his brother, that income supports their families and helps pay for their four children’s university tuition.
Now, however, a recent stop-work order issued by Israel’s Civil Administration threatens to wipe out everything Salim has built, along with his family’s livelihood.
The Civil Administration, an arm of the military, says the greenhouses were built without permits, even though they have stood for many years, some for over two decades. “When the greenhouses were built there was no problem with the army, nobody came and said ‘don’t build here,’” Salim told +972. “The municipality even connected them to electricity.”
Salim is far from alone. In recent weeks, Israeli authorities have issued stop-work orders — the first step before demolition — for 52 greenhouses in Jayyous located east of the separation barrier. At least two of those have already been demolished. This week, dozens more greenhouses located on the other side of the wall also received demolition orders.
The fact that the orders apply to structures within 300 meters on either side of the barrier and cite no specific security rationale suggests that their goal is to clear the area of Palestinian agricultural presence altogether. “They harass us, the villagers, so that we’ll move to the cities, and from the cities abroad,” Salim told +972. “They want to make life harder for Palestinian farmers. Their goal is political.”