“Rahalim” settlers cut down olive trees from the fields of Yasuf village / governorate of Salfit

May 19, 2022

• Violation: 42 trees were partially cut down.
• Location: Yasuf village, northeast of Yasuf village.
• Date of violation: 05/19/2022.
• The aggressor: the settlement of “Rahalim”.
• Affected party: farmer Omar Rashid Musleh.
• Details of the violation:

In the evening of Thursday (19/5/2022), a group of settlers raided the “Bab al-Sha’ab” area, located to the east of Yasuf village in Salfit Governorate, where the occupation established the “Rahalim” settlement on parts of the lands of Yasuf, not far from Salfit.

It is noteworthy that the settlers deliberately, through sharp tools, spread and sabotaged 42 olive trees aged 20 years, which led to partial damage, as it belongs to the farmer Omar Rashid Musleh, a resident of the village, and the breadwinner of a family consisting of (6) members, including (3) Females and there are (4) children.

For his part, the affected farmer told a researcher of the Land Research Center the following: “This is the third time that the settlers break and chop down olive trees – 42 trees –  which owned by my family, in the areas of Bab al-Sha’ab near the settlement of ‘Rahalim’, where our land size is about 8 dunums. This is not the first attack in the same area, where the settlers cut, broke and uprooted about 14 trees in addition to 55 trees in later attack. 42 trees were attacked this time, ranging in age from 15-20 years, bringing the total of the attacked trees to 111 on our land, with the aim of forcing us to leave our lands”. For more info on what farmers are exposed to, see the report issued in February 2022, click here.

It is noteworthy that the “Bab al-Sha’ab” area, according to field research indicators, is one of the most prominent sites in the village of Yasuf, targeted by the settlers. The area over the past years, witnessed a number of attacks that focused mainly on targeting olive trees, with the aim of emptying the area as a whole in preparation for extending the control of the settlers over it and changing its features which services the racist expansion project, which is the seizure of large areas of village lands there in favor of increasing the pace of construction of that settlement.

About the village of Yasuf:

The village of Yasouf is located 16 km south of Nablus, and it is bordered to the north by the towns of Hawara and Jama’in, to the west by Marda village, to the east by Yatma village, and to the south by the village of Iskaka. Its population is 2,093 as of 2017. Its total area is 6,037 dunams, of which 330 dunams are built-up areas for the village. The Israeli occupation confiscated an area of ​​814 dunums of its lands for the benefit of the following:

• Israeli settlements: 659 dunums of village lands were looted for the benefit of two settlements, the first “Kfar Tabwah” which was established in 1978, plundered 649 dunums and is inhabited by 523 colonists. While the second settlement is “Rekhalim – Shvut” expropriated 10 dunums, and which was established in 1991.
• The bypass roads: Bypass Road No. 508 plundered more than 155 dunums.

In addition to the above, the village of Yasuf is located in most of its lands within the areas classified as C, that is, under the complete control of the occupation, so it is targeted almost daily. According to the Oslo Agreement, the village of Yasuf is divided into areas B (1427) dunams, while areas C constitute the largest percentage of the total area of the village which is about (4609) dunams.