Settlers cut agricultural roads and threaten the farming season east of Nablus

In a dangerous escalation targeting the Palestinian presence in vital agricultural areas, extremist settlers intensified their attacks on agricultural lands east of the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, specifically in the "Beit Furik Plain" area, which is a lifeline for thousands of Palestinian families in the region.

This escalation manifested in groups of settlers closing several agricultural and dirt roads leading to the plain, in an overt attempt to impose a new reality aimed at isolating farmers from their lands and preventing them from accessing them for cultivation.

Palestinian sources reported that a large number of settlers departed from one of the nearby pastoral settlement outposts near the plain, armed with tools, where they placed huge piles of dirt and rocks across the roads leading to the lands, preventing agricultural vehicles and tractors from crossing.

Farmers confirmed that these closures were not an individual or random act, but appeared to be an organized step aimed at completely disrupting the agricultural season, as many farmers were forced to turn back after finding the roads closed before them, which portends heavy losses that may befall them due to their inability to care for their crops or plow their lands in a timely manner.

This attack comes as part of a long series of violations to which the eastern area of Nablus is subjected, where experts in settlement affairs indicate that the Beit Furik Plain is subjected to what resembles a "silent war," led by extremist settlers with the aim of forcibly displacing farmers from their lands in preparation for controlling them and annexing them to the neighboring settlements.

What complicates the scene further is the role played by the occupation forces in providing security cover for these groups; the affected parties reported that occupation soldiers are often present in the area without moving a muscle to prevent the settlers, but instead often suppress the farmers if they try to defend their lands or remove the obstacles, putting the Palestinian farmer between the hammer of the settlers and the anvil of the army.

Rights and agricultural institutions warned of the danger of continuing this policy, confirming that the continued closure of roads and prevention of access to the Beit Furik Plain not only threatens the livelihoods of dozens of families, but also targets the food security of the entire governorate, given the strategic importance of this agricultural plain.

The residents of Beit Furik village and neighboring villages appealed to international and rights institutions for the urgent need to intervene to stop the rampage of the settlers, and to provide international protection for the farmers to enable them to access their lands safely, and to curb the confiscation projects that devour the lands day by day.