RAMALLAH / Anadolu

Sinjil Mayor Moataz Tawafsha to Anadolu: Every farmer who tried to enter these lands was subjected to attacks by settlers, including physical assault and gunfire

Activist Mia from the organization 'Combatants for Peace' to Anadolu: We are here alongside the residents of Sinjil, which faces daily attacks from settlers

Palestinian farmers from the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah in the occupied central West Bank, managed on Saturday to plow part of their lands for the first time in about three years, during a solidarity event.

The step aims to support landowners who have been prevented by the Israeli army and settlers from accessing their lands since the start of the war on the Gaza Strip on October 8, 2023.

The event was organized by the Sinjil municipality in cooperation with the Israeli organization 'Combatants for Peace', in support of landowners who face repeated attacks by Israeli settlers.

It was attended by Palestinian and Israeli solidarity activists who accompanied landowners during the plowing work, in a message of solidarity with their steadfastness and strengthening their presence on their lands.

** Settler attacks

Sinjil Mayor Moataz Tawafsha told Anadolu that the event took place in the northern area of the town, which covers about 8,000 dunams (a dunam equals 1,000 square meters), and from which the Israeli army has prevented farmers from accessing since the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip.

Tawafsha added that every farmer who tried to enter these lands was subjected to attacks by settlers, including physical assault and gunfire.

He explained that the northern area includes four settlement outposts in addition to four settlements built on the town's lands about 30 years ago.

Tawafsha continued that settlers launch attacks on Palestinians and their property from these locations.

He noted that participants managed to plow a large area of land during the event.

Tawafsha stressed continued efforts to return to all lands and plow them as 'a right of their owners'.

** Call for solidarity

Image: Issam H.s. Alasmar/AA

For her part, activist Mia from the organization 'Combatants for Peace' told Anadolu: 'We are here, Israelis and Palestinians together, alongside the people of Sinjil, which faces daily attacks by settlers.'

Mia added: 'Today, for the first time in the past three years, residents are able to care for and work on their lands.'

She called for solidarity with the town's residents and for being present alongside them on their lands.

** Our land, our souls

Image: Issam H.s. Alasmar/AA

In turn, farmer Fadi Alwan told Anadolu that farmers, with support from the municipality and tractor owners, managed to reach their lands and plow them for the first time in three years.

Alwan added that their previous attempts to reach the lands were met with attacks by armed settlers.

He stressed that 'the land means our souls; it is honor and dignity, and we will continue to hold onto it and return to it.'

The town of Sinjil, surrounded by several settlements and outposts, has witnessed a rise in settler attacks under Israeli army protection, aimed at preventing farmers from accessing their lands and taking them over for settlement expansion.

Residents say that since the start of the aggression on Gaza in 2023, settlers have been trying to impose a new reality by preventing farmers from accessing their lands, especially those near settlements and pastoral outposts, depriving dozens of families of their livelihood.

The area also sees bulldozing of Palestinian lands to pave settler roads and establish pastoral outposts on private lands, along with repeated attacks targeting agricultural fields, particularly olive trees.

In recent years, Israeli authorities have built a wire fence on the eastern side of Sinjil alongside Route 60, and installed gates at its main entrances, isolating it from large areas of its agricultural lands.

On Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority's Commission for Resistance to the Wall and Settlements announced that Israel had seized 464.4 dunams of Sinjil's lands and declared them 'state lands', aiming to expand the 'Karmi Oz' settlement outpost built on the town's lands.

The Israeli left-wing organization 'Peace Now' estimates the number of settlers in the West Bank at about half a million, in addition to about 250,000 in settlements built in occupied East Jerusalem.

Since October 8, 2023, the West Bank has seen Israeli escalation by the army and settlers, resulting in the killing of 1,175 Palestinians, injury of 12,919, arrest of about 24,000, and displacement of 33,000, according to official Palestinian figures.