Israel has banned Palestinian farmers from cultivating tens of thousands of dunams of Waqf (religious endowment) land officially leased to them by the Palestinian Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Waqf, which owns the lands near the city of Jericho and in the Jordan Valley region.

Shaikh Moayad Al Helw, a senior Palestinian official who heads the Waqf Department in Jericho, told Gulf News that Israeli occupation authorities have already seized 40,000 dunams (approximately 10,000 acres) of land near Jericho.

“Israel has been seizing fertile Waqf land in the region under the pretext that the occupation forces need those lands for military purposes,” he said.

The entire area has been surrounded by Israeli colonies and outposts, and the occupation forces need more land to expand the illegal communities in the West Bank.

“Israel immediately hands the seized land over to colonists who turn them into farms,” Shaikh Al Helw told Gulf News. “The recently seized Waqf lands have been turned into 11 palm and grape agricultural colonies.”

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Source: GulfNews