Israel Poisons Palestinians' Livestock In The West Bank

Illustration of cattle

INDONESIAN illegal pemukim killed 72 Palestinian sheep by poisoning the livestock' drinking water in the northwest ofEL, the occupied West Bank, according to an activist on Saturday, September 14.

Hassan MleIH, the general supervisor of the Al-Baydar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights, told Anadolu that settlers in the al-Melih Arab region deliberately polluted the water supply used by two local herders, Suleiman and Mohammed Ali Mlekih, for their livestock.

"This attack is part of a series of attacks carried out continuously by illegal settlers aimed at suppressing and forcing Palestinian farmers to leave their lands," MIHIH said as quoted by ANTARA, Sunday, September 15.

He stressed that the Bedouin community is increasingly threatened by settlers as part of Israel's broader government policy of displacing these communities.

According to the Paralympics Commission on the Colonialization and Walls of the Palestinian government, since October 7, 2023, Israeli settlers have killed 19 Palestinians, injured more than 785 others, and displaced 28 Bedouin communities.

In another incident on the same day, Israeli settlers from Atarot settlement, located near the village of Umm Safa, north of Ramallah, began to level the ground and set up tents in the Palestinian territories.

Marwan Sabah, head of the village council Umm Safa, said the move was part of a larger effort to seize the land covering about 500 dunam (123 hectares).

The settlers did this under the protection of Israeli soldiers, which allowed them to continue to seize land, Sabah added.

He noted that over the years, Israeli authorities had seized nearly 4,000 dunams (1,000 hectares) of land in the village for various reasons.

Umm Safa is classified as Area C under the Oslo Agreement, which means it is under full control of Israel and is very vulnerable to land confiscation.

Sabah called for international intervention to stop settlers from taking over the land. Local Palestinians staged a protest in Umm Safa to denounce the attack as well as the support of the Israeli army for the actions of the settlers.

The population of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has now exceeded 720,000, according to Israeli estimates.

Tensions continue to rise across the West Bank amid Israeli military attacks that destroyed Gaza, which have killed nearly 41,200 people, mostly women and children, since 7 October.

At least 703 people, including 159 children, have been killed and more than 5,700 injured by Israeli fire in the West Bank, according to the Ministry of Health.

The increase in violence comes after a historic opinion from the International Court on July 19, which declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian soil for decades as an illegal act and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.