•  Violation: Suspension of work on an agricultural project.
• Violation date: 12/07/2022.
• Location: Beit Al-Ban – Ethna town / Hebron governorate.
• The aggressor: the so-called Department of Antiquities of the occupation.
• Victims: Ahmed and Mustafa Abu Juhaisha.

The details:

 The Israeli occupation authorities have notified the suspension of work on an agricultural project owned by Ahmed Mahmoud Abu Juhaisha, in the town of Ethna, west of Hebron governorate.

The affected citizen, 58 years old, told the field researcher of the Land Research Center:

“One of the beneficiaries of the land reclamation and rehabilitation projects which was implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture in the area, has obtained a project to re-cultivate a plot of land he owns in the “Beit Al-Ban” area, west of the town of Ethna”.

Abu Juhaisha explained:

“The plot of land was planted with olive trees since old times, but the trees stopped production due to the weather conditions and the nature of the land planted in it, so taking care of it became useless and expensive, so came this new project, which is to uproot the old trees, rearrange and rehabilitate the site and plant it with new matching seedlings conditions and soil at that location”.

Abu Juhaisha said:

“On 12/7/2022, we were surprised by the arrival of a military vehicle of the occupation army, accompanied by another civilian vehicle, so the soldiers asked us to stop working on the site, and they detained us for two hours, then they handed me a notification titled stopping the destruction of antiquities on the pretext that we are working in an archaeological area. They also confiscated my vehicle, as the soldiers asked me to drive it and take it to the military tower near the town of Beit Awa and park it there, and they asked me to return without handing me proof that they confiscated my vehicle”.

Notification No. 972 received by Abu Juhaisha.

Abu Juhaisha indicated that he and his brother Mustafa (50 years old) received a call from the occupation police that they should come to be investigated in police center near the settlement of “Kiryat Arba”. When they were investigated, the investigator told them that they were working in an area classified as archaeological site, and they had to stop working, and a fine of (15,000 shekels) was issued against them, including 10,000 for Ahmed and 5,000 for Mustafa), and the occupation police demanded that they pay it within a week.

Photo A: The fine that Ahmed received

Photo B: The fine received by Mustafa

Abu Juhaisha indicated that they cannot pay these exorbitant fines (about $4,500) and that he suffers from chronic diseases, and was working on his land that he owned according to identification documents, he was not aware that it was an archaeological area or that antiquities had been found in it.

It is clear that the so-called Department of Antiquities of the occupation has submitted a complaint to the police against the two brothers, Abu Juhaisha, that they attacked an archaeological area, so the police summoned them and charged them with this heavy fine, and demanded that they immediately stop working on the project.

The citizen Ahmed Abu Juhaisha responsible of a family of 10, including 3 children. Mustafa on the other hand. responsible of a family of 10, including 5 children. The area of ​​the agricultural project targeted by the occupation authorities is about (7 dunums).

Photos 1-4: A view of the agricultural project that the occupation stopped working on

 

The town of Ethna[1]:

Ethna is located 18 km from the city of Hebron, with a total area of 26,152 dunums, of which 2,653 dunams are the built-up area of the village. The population of the town was 26,009 until 2017. The occupation confiscated 107 dunums of its lands in favor of the apartheid wall, which was ruined under its path. It also isolated 3,511 dunums behind it. The bypass road No. 35, whose length is on the lands of Ethna (4,674 m), which was looted from the lands of the village reached about 467 dunums.

 

[1] GIS – LRC.

 

Prepared by
 The Land Research Center
LRC