Israel to seize large tracts of private West Bank land for 'security barrier'

Israel’s army has ordered the seizure of hundreds of dunams of private Palestinian land in the Jordan Valley area of the occupied West Bank to build a "security barrier," in a continued policy of encroachment in the region amid ongoing military attacks.

Each dunam – a unit of measurement often used in the Levant – is equal to 1,000 square meters.

The barrier will include a paved road used for patrols, a "natural obstacle" adjacent to the road – unclear what this would be – and ditches and embankments, the army has said.

Dubbed "Scarlet Thread," the army claims it will be used to prevent the smuggling of weapons and thwart "terrorist attacks".

The land to be seized covers some 1,160 dunams, and 85 percent of it is privately owned and belongs to residents of the Palestinian towns of Tubas and Tammun, the Times of Israel reported, citing civil rights activist Dror Etkes.

Palestinian landowners were invited on Wednesday for a tour of the land that would be seized, ToI said, adding that they would be given seven days to file objections to the seizure orders of their own property.

The barrier will reportedly measure around 20 meters in width and extend around 20 km in length, and any buildings 20 meters to the east or west of the barrier will be destroyed for alleged security purposes.

Etkes pushed back against the army’s security claims, saying the project was meant to ethnically cleanse the land between the proposed barrier and what Israel calls the "Allon Road" to the east, adding that residents would eventually be forcefully displaced.

The area between the barrier and Allon Road is around 45,000 dunams.

Israel has already built a separation barrier cutting into the western side of West Bank and seizing huge swathes of Palestinian land. It is now also building barriers in the east of the occupied Palestinian territory.

Etkes, a left-wing activist, referred to a 2024 project carried out by the army when an 8 km-long barrier was built east of the Palestinian villages of Bardalah and Kardala.

This cut off the villages' residents from over 25,000 dunams of agricultural land, effectively ending their source of income.

The 'Scarlet Thread' would be the northernmost section of the already existing barrier east of Bardalah and Kardala, Times of Israel reported.

It added that the land seizure orders were signed off by chief of the Israeli army’s Central Command, Avi Bluth, on 28 August, but the notice was issued to residents on 21 November.

In total, nine land seizure orders have been issued by the Israeli army for the new barrier project.

Etkes ruled out the seriousness of landowners being allowed to file objections, saying they would be rejected by the Israeli judiciary.

Israel captured the West Bank after the 1967 Arab-Israel war and has illegally occupied the territory since then, seizing land from Palestinians while building hundreds of  illegal settlements.

Since the 1990s, the Palestinian Authority has exercised limited control in Palestinian towns and cities as part of the now-moribund Oslo Peace Process, but Israel has continued to refuse to withdraw from the West Bank or allow Palestinians self-determination.

For months, Israeli forces have intensified their operations across the West Bank, killing dozens of people and displacing thousands of Palestinians. The occupied territory has seen repeated Israeli army attacks since the start of the Gaza war in 2023.

Attacks by Israeli settlers have also increased, amid condemnation from world leaders, and even some Israeli officials. These attacks spiked during the olive harvest season between September and November and included the brutal beating of an elderly Palestinian woman by Israeli settlers as she worked in her orchard.