Hundreds of Israelis, including politicians and public figures, gathered on Wednesday at a protest rally near the community of Nokdim in eastern Gush Etzion following the illegal land seizure and construction by Palestinian Authority Arabs on Israeli land in the area.
The illegal Arab outpost consists of four structures, including three large stone structures and a shed, built over the past week. Two of the buildings have been manned in recent days by invading families from the nearby villages.
According to Israeli residents in the area, there is a lot of activity of vehicles coming and going around the buildings, and people who are constantly working for the Palestinian Authority takeover of the land while establishing facts on the ground.
The establishment of the illegal Arab outpost joins the illegal work in the area during the past year and a half, only a few hundred meters from the Israeli communities.
Residents told TPS that so far the IDF’s Civil Administration has failed to act against the illegal construction, despite repeated petitions by them on the issue.
The action committee to prevent the takeover of the Jewish land in the area told TPS that the construction of four buildings in one week is a serious uptick in the theft of Nokdim’s lands and the other Israeli communities of Kfar Eldad of Sde Bar, and poses a strategic threat that could suffocate the three towns and rob them of future construction intended for hundreds of families.
The action committee added in its remarks to TPS that the land reserves that the state provides for the growth of the communities are almost non-existent, and the loss of such a large piece of land is destructive to the future of eastern Gush Etzion.
The Israeli residents further said that they reported in real-time to the Civil Administration, “but since these are not Jews plowing on Jewish-owned land but Arabs who are building on Jewish land,” no Administration forces arrived as they did a week and a half ago to stop the plowing carried out by the residents of Nokdim in the area.
According to them, a Border Police force was sent to make sure that the residents who reported the illegal construction would not come into friction with the Palestinian Authority Arabs.