Israel's new tactic to seizing West Bank lands: Settlement 'buffer zones'

Ziyad Mashhour al-Ghafari stood in the yard of his home in the Palestinian village of Sinjil, in the occupied West Bank, looking on at the olive grove his father planted decades ago and that was now destroyed. 

Eight months ago, Ghafari was informed that Israeli authorities were planning to build a section of the wall that would separate his village, Sinjil, north of Ramallah, from the main road. He was not given any details regarding the design of the wall, its path, or its proximity to his house, which is closest to the road.

At the end of September, Ghafari, like other villagers, was surprised by a large number of Israeli forces, accompanied by military bulldozers, at the village’s main entrance. They then proceeded to uproot olive trees and bulldoze the area around his home. Every time he tried to approach them to ask what was happening, he was threatened at gunpoint and ordered to return to his house.

"Suddenly, our lives turned into a nightmare. The house is no longer safe; there’s no privacy, no freedom of movement, and we don’t know when or how this nightmare will end," Ghafari told Middle East Eye.

Read more: Israel's new tactic to seizing West Bank lands: Settlement 'buffer zones'