Israeli Authorities Confiscate Khaled Safouri’s Land in Jenin After Demolishing Home

Israeli authorities issued an order to confiscate Khaled Safouri’s land plus more than seven additional dunams in the Jabriyat neighborhood of Jenin, a highland area overlooking the Jenin refugee camp, after the Israeli army demolished his home inside the Jenin refugee camp.

“Israeli soldiers conducted a raid on Birzeit University this morning, injuring several students with live ammunition and arresting the university's vice president of academic affairs”

Agence Media Palestine

The order, conveyed to the landowners in Jabriyat via WhatsApp using a PDF in Arabic bearing the signature of the Israeli army’s Central Command chief, Aviv Blut, says the parcels are being confiscated “for military purposes” and that the confiscation will remain in effect until the end of 2028.

Agence Media Palestine

Safouri, described as a third-generation Nakba refugee, said, “This decision is shocking; my land is in Area A. No one could have imagined this. Our house was demolished, and now our land is being confiscated. How am I supposed to feel?”

The Anadolu Ajansı report also tied the land seizure preparations to broader West Bank tensions, saying Israeli authorities informed on Sunday evening that they had seized and taken control of hundreds of dunams of agricultural land south of Jenin Governorate.

It said the notices ordered the taking of possession of about 2,803 dunams of land in the town of Jbe’a south of Jenin, and included a decision to remove olive trees and vegetation from lands in the town of Raba south of Jenin, covering about 126 dunams, under the pretext of “security purposes.”

In a comment to +972 magazine, Dror Etkes, founder of the anti-settlement organization Kerem Navot, said the confiscation order and recently paved military roads point to Israel’s plans to establish a large military base adjacent to the Jenin camp.

Etkes said, “This is the first time since Oslo that I’ve seen a seizure order for establishing a military base in Area A.”

Anadolu Ajansı

The Anadolu Ajansı account described Israeli forces arresting Palestinians in Jerusalem while preparing to seize Palestinian lands in Jenin, naming detainees including Afra t Al-Hanawi, Khaleel Al-Hanawi, Nader Harb Hamid, Salah Hamid, and Mohammad Mustafa.

It also reported that settlers raided the eastern area of the village of al-Mughir, east of Ramallah, with Israeli forces providing protection to settlers and assaulting several residents around clashes.

WAFA, meanwhile, framed the Gaza context of the war on the same day, reporting that an Israeli drone strike in the northwestern part of Gaza City killed four Palestinians including a woman near Al-Buraq School in the Al-Nasr neighborhood.

The Jenin land seizure orders are presented as part of a wider pattern of settlement expansion and military infrastructure in the occupied West Bank, with WAFA saying the measures are part of a broader policy of land confiscation and settlement expansion being implemented by Israeli authorities in Jenin Governorate and throughout the occupied West Bank.

WAFA reported that Israeli forces issued notices ordering the seizure and appropriation of agricultural land in several towns south of Jenin, including approximately 2,803 dunams in Jaba’, approximately 126 dunams in Raba, and approximately 128 dunams in Arraba placed under military control for what were described as military purposes.

In the same broader context, Anadolu Ajansı said tensions in the West Bank are rising in tandem with Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, and it cited that since October 8, 2023, the Israeli escalation in the West Bank has left 1,169 Palestinians dead and 12,666 others injured.

Anadolu Ajansı also said Palestinians warn these crimes pave the way for Israel to annex the entire West Bank or large parts of it, which would eliminate the possibility of establishing the Palestinian state as envisioned by UN resolutions.

Separately, Agence Media Palestine described a raid on Birzeit University that injured 11 students, including 5 by live bullets, and said the university’s vice president for academic affairs, Assem Khalil, was arrested during the raid.