SETTLERS LAND GRAB FROM PALESTINIANS

BEIT JALA, OCCUPIED WEST BANK -- AUGUST 1, 2024: A Israeli police officer speak to a Jewish settler after the group forcibly took control of a property with claims of legal ownership from the Kisiya family, a Christian Palestinian family, in the Al-Makhrur area, in Beit Jala, Occupied West Bank, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. The Al-Makhrur area which sits in a valley near the city of Bethlehem, has turned into a hub for clashes as activists accompanying the Kisiya family return almost daily, to demonstrate against the eviction and to reclaim their home. Both sides contest over legal ownership for the land with legal documents to the security forces. The Kisiya family said that they have purchased the land legally and owned since 1967. Israeli security force expel the protesters and declare the area a closed military zone. Soldiers say the order allows for the Jewish settlers to remain on the contested land. The Kisiya family says that they intend to continue to fight for their legal and rightful claim to the land. Nearby, an entire area in Al-Makhrur that has been declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage site, preserving an ancient traditional agriculture, is now in danger. Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right finance minister and a settler himself, gave preliminary approval to the construction of a new settlement, Nahal Heletz in June, but Israeli authorities signed off on it mid-August, which will encroach on Palestinian land recognized by Unesco, according to advocacy group Peace Now. Israeli peace activists also point out that the intention of the new settlement is part of a broader effort to cut disconnect Palestinian villages from Bethlehem and to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. (MARCUS YAM / LOS ANGELES TIMES)