On Tuesday, Israeli troops bulldozed extensive tracts of Palestinian-owned agricultural land in the village of Umm Safa, northwest of Ramallah, according to Marwan Sabbah, head of the Umm Safa Village Council. The razed plots in the Jabal Al-Ras area formed an integral part of villagers’ livelihoods, with olive groves and grain fields destroyed in the operation.

Sabbah explained that the military issued orders expropriating these northern lands to pave the way for the expansion of a nearby colonial outpost. Under the orders, what was once privately cultivated farmland will be reclassified for “security needs,” a designation frequently used to justify land seizure in Area C of the occupied West Bank.

Earlier this spring, illegal settlers, backed by army units, uprooted at least 500 olive trees and levelled hundreds of dunams of land south of Umm Safa, seeking to link the Halamish (Neve Tzuf) and Ateret outposts by a new dirt road.

Just days later, colonizers and soldiers bulldozed additional fields between Umm Safa and neighboring Deir Sudan, uprooting vines and orchards in a campaign that has targeted over 300 dunams of fertile terrain since January.

These coordinated actions form part of a broader settlement drive: Israel has expanded dozens of outposts in the Ramallah governorate over the past two years, annexing agricultural land and redrawing facts on the ground in contravention of international law.

Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, the forcible transfer of civilians and expropriation of land in occupied territory are prohibited. Yet military orders in Area C—where Israel retains full control—regularly override Palestinian property rights, leaving farmers powerless to contest demolitions or seizebacks.

The destruction in Umm Safa has devastated local families. Many residents rely exclusively on olive harvests and grain sales to feed their households; with orchards razed, they face deep economic hardship ahead of the main harvest season.

Villagers have appealed to the Palestinian Authority and international bodies to intervene. Sabbah urged foreign diplomats to visit Umm Safa and witness “the systematic destruction of our land and heritage,” calling on human rights groups to pressure Israel to halt all demolition orders.

Regional NGOs warn that such expansions fuel tensions across the West Bank. By cutting through Palestinian lands, outposts fragment communities and obstruct freedom of movement, hindering access to schools, markets, and medical facilities.

In response to similar incidents, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has documented a surge in forced land seizures and home demolitions since October 2023, underscoring the link between settlement growth and rising humanitarian needs.

Israeli authorities routinely defend outpost expansions as necessary for security or housing “natural growth” of settler populations, despite United Nations and International Court of Justice rulings deeming all settlement activity illegal.

As Umm Safa’s farmers count the cost of lost groves and ruined fields, the village faces an uncertain future. Without immediate action to reverse expropriations, the community’s remaining lands risk further encroachment—and the erosion of Palestinian presence in their ancestral homeland.

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