Palestinians Protest as «Israeli» Bulldozers Clear Land

By Staff, Agencies

Palestinians have launched protests in the occupied West Bank after “Israeli” bulldozers began clearing land in what villagers fear is an attempt to confiscate it for future “Israeli” settlements.

Scuffles intensified this week as “Israeli” voters voted in an election, with Palestinians saying settlers had been emboldened by US President Donald Trump's Middle East plan – also known as “the deal of the century” – and “Israeli” election rhetoric about annexing settlements.

Villagers from the nearby village of Qusra, near the Palestinian city of Nablus, challenged “Israeli” Occupation Forces [IOF] troops guarding the bulldozers as they worked in a field close to Migdalim settlement.

In another nearby village, Beita, residents protested over several days, planting a Palestinian flag and erecting a tent on the hilltop of al-Arma to defend it against settlers from the Itamar settlement, also near the city of Nablus. Some demonstrators hurled rocks at soldiers.

"I came here because this is my land, and I want to die on my land but they are not letting me come near it," said Joudat Odeh, from Qusra.

"They are happy at Netanyahu's victory," said Odeh, 70. "They are coming to control this land and we are helpless."

“Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party leads the vote count after Monday's election, but with 99% of votes counted on Wednesday he was still 3 seats short of securing the 61-MK majority needed to form a government.

Victory would pave the way for Netanyahu to make good on his campaign pledge to annex settlements in the West Bank under Trump's plan.

Palestinians have rejected the proposal, saying it would kill the possibility of establishing a viable state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

More than 400,000 “Israeli” settlers now live among about 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank, with a further 200,000 settlers in East Jerusalem [al-Quds]. Palestinians and much of the world view the settlements as illegal under international law, a position the “Israeli” entity and the United States dispute.