Petition to remove occupation barriers on Nahalin lands near Bethlehem

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel filed a petition to the High Court on behalf of six Palestinian farmers from the village of Nahalin, west of Bethlehem, demanding the removal of barriers that have prevented them from accessing their agricultural lands since October 2023. The petition comes as the olive harvest season begins, after three years of military restrictions and settler attacks. According to the petition, agricultural roads leading to the village's lands were blocked with earth mounds and stones, while Israeli soldiers prevented farmers from reaching their property based on verbal instructions, without presenting military orders authorizing these restrictions. The petition documented attacks and threats by settlers against farmers, including evicting them from their lands and bringing flocks of sheep into the fields, causing damage to crops. In some cases, Israeli soldiers intervened to remove landowners and violently detain them, instead of protecting them from settler attacks. Farmers were also prevented from crossing the "Etzion" checkpoint to reach their lands, on the pretext that their names were not on a closed list, without clarifying the criteria for its preparation or the responsible authority. The association reported that it repeatedly approached Israeli authorities over about a year to address the restrictions on farmers, without reaching a solution.