Israel seizes more than 1,000 dunams in Jordan Valley, commission warns
The Palestinian Anti-Wall and Settlement Commission says Israel has seized 1,042 dunams (257 acres) of land in the Tubas and northern Jordan Valley area after issuing nine separate “military seizure” orders.
Commission head Muayyad Shaaban said the nine orders, though issued separately, form one large project to build a 22km (14-mile) road running from Ein Shibli southward to Aqqaba in the north. The planned route cuts through vast agricultural and residential areas and encircles the herding community in Khirbet Yarza.
Shaaban described the move as a major shift in the use of military seizure orders, saying the road is designed as a strategic corridor linking Israeli bases and illegal settlements in the Jordan Valley, tightening control over agricultural land between Tubas, Tammun and Tayasir, and blocking Palestinian geographic continuity.
He warned that, although such orders are nominally temporary, past experience shows 90 percent of “military roads” later become permanent settlement roads, turning seized land into long-term infrastructure serving settlers and fragmenting Palestinian communities.
More Israeli raids in West Bank as forces arrest Palestinian
Israeli forces detained a Palestinian man during a raid on the town of Beit Rima, northwest of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
Security officials told Wafa news agency his identity was not immediately known. Confrontations broke out following the incursion, though no injuries were reported.
In a separate raid, Israeli troops stormed the nearby village of Deir Ghassaneh, sparking more confrontations without reports of casualties. The United States has done nothing to rein in Israel’s assaults and crackdowns on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as it trumpets its Gaza ceasefire efforts.
