Israel to confiscate 1,500sqm of Palestinian land in Nablus

Israel will confiscate 1,500 square meter of land from Palestinians in the village of Huwwara, to the south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, according to local Palestinian media.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors settlement activities in the West Bank, told PA official news agency WAFA that the Israeli army announced to take over the land to supplement the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar.

In February last year, the Israeli Knesset passed a controversial law that would legalise the annexation of land privately-owned by Palestinians to benefit Israeli settlement enterprise in the occupied territories.

More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in constructions considered illegal under international law.

51 years of illegal occupation

Israel has occupied the West Bank illegally since 1967, committing various crimes against Palestinian civilians.

Last month, a group of Israeli soldiers were caught laughing as they shot at Palestinian civilians in Nablus as they tried to move a roadblock illegally placed by the Israeli army.

A video showed Israeli soldiers on April 13 arriving at the scene where around 30 residents of the Palestinian village of Madama tried to remove a roadblock that Israeli forces placed at the eastern entrance to the village.

Whilst shooting, the Israeli soldiers were filmed laughing at the Palestinian civilians being injured.

“We need one good hit and that’s it. That’ll teach them to throw stones,” one soldier said.

The soldiers then rejoiced after successfully firing at a Palestinian who had hid behind the dumpster.

“Aha we got him! Son of a b***,” they said after he was shot.

Prior to this, Palestinian children were left struggling to breathe after Israeli forces fired tear gas at a school in Nablus.

Daghlas said the attack happened on Monday at al-Lubban to the north of Nablus, at a school which was targeted by Israeli forces "almost on a daily basis".

Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and stun canisters toward the school, he added, which led to a number of children suffering suffocation from inhaling the gas.

Last week a group of Israeli settlers carried out attacks overnight near Nablus, vandalising a mosque and cars and spraying "death to Arabs" on homes.

The group targeted the villages of al-Labban, al-Sharqiya and al-Aswiya, south of Nablus city, vandalising a mosque and slashing tyres of 30 vehicles.