Israeli settlers targeting Palestinian factories to force workers off land

A massive fire, believed to have been started by Israeli settlers, has destroyed olive trees and farmland in the occupied West Bank.

A blaze broke out near the al-Omari aluminium factory in the village of Ein Siniya, north of Ramallah, on Monday morning, spreading to roughly 50 dunams (12.3 acres) of perennial olive trees and causing damage to the industrial facility’s yard.

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It comes amid a settler campaign targeting the West Bank economy, including farmland and industry, in a bid to displace Palestinians, sources told Al Jazeera.

Emad Khater, the head of Ein Siniya council, told Al Jazeera that a settler from the Atara hilltops was seen close to the facility before the fire started. When the blaze broke out, Israeli soldiers prevented residents and workers from putting out the fire.

“[It] is one of a series of systematic attacks that previously affected Ein Siniya, which included deliberate fires in trees, homes, and cars, in addition to theft incidents and physical assaults with beatings that affected citizens and workers inside the factories,” said Khater.

Ein Siniya is in Area B according to the Oslo Accords, which should see it under Palestinian civil and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control.

A bulldozer at the Ein Samia stone crusher shows severe damage after Israeli settlers infiltrated the site and set fire to heavy equipment [Screengrab/Al Jazeera] — A bulldozer at the Ein Samia stone crusher shows severe damage after Israeli settlers infiltrated the site and set fire to heavy equipment [Screenshot/Al Jazeera]

Abdul Samad Abdul Aziz, the owner of the Ein Siniya facility, said Israelis from illegal settlements had infiltrated the industrial site in late July and set fire to heavy equipment. A stone crusher was severely damaged in the attack and caused an estimated $700,000 in losses.

Settlers established an outpost on the road leading up to the site with their livestock after displacing local Palestinian shepherds. Abdul Aziz said that since settlers arrived at the area, vehicles and offices have been attacked “with the aim of restricting the facility and pushing its owners to leave the place”.

Khaled al-Zaarir in the town of as-Samu, south of Hebron, told Al Jazeera that about 30 settlers attacked an industrial facility he owned there on August 21, following repeated death threats by the group.

Two mechanical excavators, three stone-cutting machines, three bulldozers, and a security office were damaged in the assault, al-Zaarir said.

A fire started by the settlers left more than 90 percent of the heavy equipment “unrepairable”, and the damage has affected 55 people who relied on the facility as a direct or indirect source of income.

The stone quarry owned by Khaled Al-Zaarir in As-Samu remains out of operation after a devastating arson attack by Israeli settlers [Screengrab/Al Jazeera] — The stone quarry owned by Khaled al-Zaarir in as-Samu remains out of operation after a devastating arson attack by Israeli settlers [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]

Economist Moayad Afanah said that industrial facilities in Area B and Area C of the occupied West Bank are being targeted “collectively and deliberately” by settlers. The recent attacks on the al-Junaidi dairy factories in the Tulkarem area appear to be part of this trend.

“The volume of financial losses is enormous, as burning a single bulldozer or excavator costs the investor hundreds of thousands of shekels [tens of thousands of dollars], which ultimately leads to exhausting the Palestinian economy and continuously depleting its resources and facilities,” Afanah told Al Jazeera. “Thus, these attacks succeed in creating an environment that repels investment and life.”

He warned that the settlers’ deliberate sabotage of Palestinian industry is deepening the economic crisis in the West Bank where unemployment has already reached 29 percent.

Amir Dawoud, an official at the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CRRC), said his organisation documented 798 settler attacks in July alone. This included 440 incidents of property damage and land levelling, 67 confiscations and thefts, and the vandalism or poisoning of 5,027 trees.

On March 25, settlers erected a tent near a concrete factory in Taybeh. On August 16, settlers targeted a stone cutter machine in Sinjil, cutting its cables and stealing a valuable electronic board.

Such damage can potentially lead to dozens of families losing their incomes, all with the intent of controlling West Bank land and forcing Palestinians from their homes, Dawoud warned.

“Settler terrorism performs a dual function: inflicting direct economic loss, and producing a coercive environment that pushes Palestinians to withdraw from the land, opening the way for colonial expansion and control over it,” he added.

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