The occupation threatens to seize hundreds of dunams and vital roads south of Hebron.

Today, Sunday, the Israeli occupation authorities notified the Masafer Yatta village council, south of Hebron, of the seizure of hundreds of dunams of citizens' land and a number of vital roads, to expand settlements and connect them to the settlement road network.

Nidal Abu Aram, head of the Masafer Yatta village council, told WAFA that the occupation forces had delivered a series of notices to the council ordering them to seize agricultural lands and prevent citizens from using or accessing them, particularly the roads linking the village communities in the area.

According to these notifications, the road connecting the villages of Janba and Bir al-Ad has been seized, depriving residents and farmers of access to hundreds of dunams of land. The purpose is to connect the Metzair settlement to Bypass Road 317, paving the way for the settlement's expansion at the expense of Palestinian land.

The occupation's decision also included seizing the road between Wadi Ma'in and Umm al-Shaqhan, in addition to seizing approximately three dunams of land belonging to the al-Jabarin family under the pretext of "military use," which will prevent landowners from accessing approximately 700 dunams planted with olive trees.

In the same context, the occupation authorities issued a new order to seize large areas of land for the purpose of paving a new settlement road around the "Jara'at Hanan" settlement, which was illegally established about four years ago on land belonging to the Hawshiya family.

The notices also included the seizure of an agricultural road in the Tha'la area to connect the "Havat Ma'on" settlement to Bypass Road 317, and the seizure of areas of land belonging to the Al-Arini family.

Abu Aram pointed out that the pace of land seizures in Masafer Yatta has escalated significantly since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, as the occupation authorities seek to impose a new fait accompli that consolidates settlement expansion and severs Palestinian villages and communities in the area.