Izbat Tawil: Under Settlers Siege
Izbat Tawil north-east of Aqraba is actually a part of the village, and its residents are from Aqraba, owning farmland there and making their living husbanding sheep flocks. Although their permanent home is in Aqraba village, they live in the Izbat in temporary structures near their flocks. Lately, this has become an unceasing harassment arena which has led some of its residents to abandon the site.
Settlers from Gitit settlement erected a tent close to the residents’ homes. A settler called “Jackson” and his mates prevent the residents from accessing their fields or grazing. The settlers also forbid the residents from driving the access track that leads to their homes, which forces them to travel dangerous alternative routes, among rocks.
We visited A. (52-years-old) who was born and lived all his life in Izbat Tawil. He showed us three ancient water holes that served generations for accumulating rainwater for the flocks. He said settlers keep cutting the water pipes and worse, pump and steal the water that accumulated there. In addition, once in a while they disconnect the electricity that comes from Aqraba. Two days ago, at 10:30 p.m., they did it again and the residents had to use the generator they purchased for emergencies.
A group of “Looking the Occupation in the Eye” activists is there for Protective Presence. The settlers do not spare them either: two settlers from a settlement on Mount Qarqafa (we know their names) pepper-sprayed, one of the activists who had to be evacuated and medically treated.
16:30 p.m. Awarta and Beit Furik Checkpoints: open for traffic.
Opposite Itamar settlement, a new outpost has been erected, named Havat Sdeh Shchem.
D.’ from Burin reported that about half an hour before we arrived, soldiers entered her neighborhood. Children were playing in the street at the time. The soldiers yelled at them to scram, and when the children began running, the soldiers followed them and shot in the air.
Location Description
Burin (Yitzhar)
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Burin (Yitzhar)
This is a Palestinian village in the Nablus governorate, a little south of Nablus, on the main road passing through the West Bank. The settlements: Yitzhar and Har Bracha, settled in locations that surrounded the village, placed fences so it is cut off the main road.
There are around 4000 inhabitants. Most of them are engaged in agriculture and pasture, although many graduates of the two secondary schools continue to study at the university. Academic positions are hardly available, they find work as builderd, or leave for the Gulf countries.
The village lands were appropriated several times for the establishment of Israeli settlements and military bases, and as a result, Burin's land and water resources dwindled. lSince 1982, more than 2,000 dunams of village land have been declared "state land" and then transferred to Har Bracha settlement.
Over the past few years and more so since 2017, the villagers have been terrorized by the residents of Yitzhar and Har Bracha, the Givat Ronen outpost and others. Despite the close proximity of soldiers to an IDF base close to one of the village's schools, residents are suffering from numerous stone-throwing events, vehicle and fire arson, also reported in the press.
In 2023, the prevention of the olive harvest in the village plot was more violent than ever. Soldiers and settlers walked with drawn weapons between the houses of the village and demanded that people stop harvesting in the village itself and in the private plots outside the village. The settlers from Yitzhar and Giv'at Roned raided the olive groves and stole crops. 300 olive trees belonging to the residents of Burin, near Yitzhar, were uprooted. The loss of livelihood from the olives causes long-term economic damage to the farmers' families, bringing them to the point of starvation.
(updated for November 2023)
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