Palestinians face significant land loss ahead of 50th anniversary milestone

Palestinian Landowners Face Confiscation Orders for Israeli Settlement Construction

A recent decision by the Israeli government has resulted in the confiscation of over 513 dunams (51.3 hectares) of Palestinian land south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, with 450 of these lands belonging to the village of al-Fandaqumiya. The land was slated for confiscation last December as part of a road construction project for an illegal Israeli settlement.

Abdul Rahman Azzam, a 65-year-old Palestinian landowner, recently had his olive trees cut down by the Israeli army after they were deemed necessary for the construction of the road. Azzam had planted and tended to the trees with his family members since childhood, developing a deep connection to the land.

The confiscation order was issued in accordance with Israel’s annexation plan, which has been declared by government leaders as a fait accompli. The Oslo Accords, signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993, divided the West Bank into three categories: Area A, under full Palestinian control; Area B, under joint Palestinian and Israeli control; and Area C, under full Israeli control.

Since October 2023, Israel has been issuing confiscation orders for Palestinian lands in Area C at an accelerated pace. According to data from the Palestinian Authority’s Commission Against the Wall and Settlements, Israel seized 5,572 dunams of Palestinian land in 2025 through 94 confiscation orders for military purposes.

Land Day commemorates the events of March 30, 1976, when Israeli authorities announced the confiscation of vast tracts of Palestinian land in the Galilee region. The day has become a national symbol, embodying the connection of Palestinians to their land and the rejection of its confiscation.

Source: Al Jazeera