Israel has issued orders to confiscate large tracts of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank in order to expand a road for Israeli settlers in the area.
One of the largest settler roads in the West Bank, Route 60 lies east of Ramallah and south of Nablus and its completion requires the appropriation of Palestinian land along its route.
The project will lead to the expropriation of privately owned paved agricultural land, in order to add new lanes and strengthen links between illegal Jewish settlements in the area.
Al-Mazra’a Al-Sharqiya, east of Ramallah, is among the Palestinian towns most threatened by the project, as the road runs alongside large areas of its agricultural land.
The Israeli expropriation notice announces the confiscation of hundreds of dunams, but the exact number is unknown because farmers found the confiscation orders discarded on their land rather than delivered to them directly.
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Taysir Salem, a landowner in Al-Mazra’a Al-Sharqiya, told Middle East Eye his grandfather owned 180 dunams (18 hectares) of land, which his family inherited and planted with trees.
The land is now set to be confiscated.
“Route 60 will be extended through our land, and at our expense, they will take it by force and bulldoze half of a hill that belongs to us,” he said.
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“All the neighbouring towns will also be subjected to land theft because of the road,” he added.
The official Israeli confiscation of the land is accompanied by a settler campaign to intimidate local residents and prevent them from accessing it fully.
“Last week, [settlers] came on tractors and expelled us from our land at gunpoint. We are in great danger because they want to take the land by force,” Salem added.
Palestinian landowners have possessed their farms for decades and have all the necessary documents to prove ownership.
They called on the international community to act given Israel’s sense of impunity.
“The American government has the power to stop Israel from taking our land, but it won’t.
“If it were any other country, it would have stopped them, but it won’t force Israel,” Salem concluded.
Trees to be destroyed
The announcement about the expansion of Route 60 coincides with Israeli seizure of land alongside it.
Last June, Israel announced the confiscation of 464 dunams of land belonging to the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah.
Palestinians believe the expansion of Route 60 is one of the most important means for consolidating the settlement project in the occupied West Bank.
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It connects dozens of settlements and outposts to each other and to Israel, contributing to the expansion of settlements while simultaneously fragmenting Palestinian land and isolating villages and towns from their surrounding agricultural areas.
The decision will seize land from several neighbouring towns, including Al-Sawiya, Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, Sinjil, and Turmusayya.
Abdul Samad Abdul Aziz, a spokesperson for the Al-Mazra’a Al-Sharqiya municipality, said that farmers found notices lying near their land a few days ago and brought them to the municipality headquarters.
The notices state that they have 60 days to appeal against the decision, which will confiscate thousands of dunams of the town’s land planted with thousands of olive trees, some believed by locals to be more than a thousand years old.
“The decision is dangerous for the town and the farmers, and it is unjust because it will cut off their livelihoods after stealing their land and trees. We don’t know what we will do,” Abdul Aziz said.
The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission stated in its semi-annual report this year that Israeli authorities seized more than 4,379 dunams of Palestinian land from the beginning of 2026 until the end of June.
Settlers attempted to steal livestock from a Palestinian family in the village of Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank.
The family confronted the settlers, leading to Israeli forces intervening and detaining six Palestinians, including a woman, while assaulting several… pic.twitter.com/g5vJhT4Xon
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) April 29, 2026
According to the report, the seizure was carried out under various pretexts and the issuance of 40 military orders.
This led to the establishment of four buffer zones around settlements, 16 security roads, 12 military sites, and other facilities.
Abdul Aziz said Palestinians have no other recourse but to appeal to the world to halt the decision.
“The residents will not be able to live without their land while settlers continue to attack farmers and shoot at them whenever they try to reach their land,” he explained.
