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As the genocide in the Gaza Strip approaches its 11th month, Israel also continues to intensify its colonial domination in the West Bank via land seizures and colony construction. Attacks by colonizers have also increased all around the Bethlehem governorate, likely emboldened by the incitement of Israeli Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich and Israel's decision to establish 6 new colonies. These illegal policies and practices, have been occurring for 76 years, under Israel’s colonial-apartheid regime but have intensified in scale and scope, as complicit states not only refuse to hold Israel accountable through sanctions but reward Israel’s crimes with arms and financial support.
The Bethlehem governorate is effectively surrounded by Israeli colonies, including the Etzion colonial bloc to the north, west, south and south-east. Subsequently, it has long faced threats of land confiscation and policies of colonial expansion, including forced displacement, home demolitions, land theft and the accompanying colonizer attacks. On 27 June 2024, Israel approved the establishment of the Nahal Heletz colony on land in the Bethlehem suburbs, aiming to isolate the governorate, connect the Etzion colonial bloc (consisting of 24 colonies) to Jerusalem as part of the “Greater Jerusalem” master plan, and confiscate everything in between.
The Nahal Heletz colony is planned to be built on the lands of Battir and Al-Makhrour Valley in Beit Jala, which are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as the villages of Al-Walaja and Husan. This decision threatens to forcibly displace Palestinians and further segregate, fragment and isolate Palestinian communities and villages.
The following day, Smotrich, who was handed authority over civil affairs in the West Bank in February, commended the decision, claiming this came in response to several states’ recognition of Palestine, and as a form of sanctions against the Palestinian Authority. On 14 August, following the Israeli Civil Administration’s delineation of the area of the Nahal Heletz colony, Smotrich stated: “No anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist decision will stop the further development of the settlement. We will continue to fight the dangerous idea of a Palestinian state and establish facts on the ground. This is my life's mission and I will continue it as much as I can.”
Emboldened by Smotrich’s statements, colonizers have escalated their attacks on Palestinians. On 31 July, colonizers, protected by the Israeli military, raided the Kisiya family’s land in Al-Makhrour, and forcibly displaced the family. The colonizers’ actions are part of efforts to expand the Neve Ori colony established in 2019 on some areas of the Kisiya family’s property.
In Al-Malha, near the town of Za'atara in Bethlehem, colonizers and Israeli officials, including Smotrich, have been storming the village weekly claiming to monitor “illegal construction” and threatening to carry out demolitions. Regavim, an Israeli organization co-founded by Smotrich that actively works to displace Palestinian communities and expand colonies, has spearheaded the campaign against Al-Malha. Following Regavim’s submission of many reports, Israeli authorities have increased their surveillance of Al-Malha and threats to demolish structures.
Colonizer attacks have also drastically increased all over villages and towns of the Bethlehem governorate. On 25 August 2024, in Khallet El-Louza, colonizers plowed Palestinian farmland, uprooted trees and opened fire on many homes. On 26 August, colonizers attacked the village of Wadi Rahhal, killing a 40 year old Palestinian man and injuring five others.
The confiscation of Palestinian land and colonizer attacks are not new, but typical tools used by Israel’s colonial-apartheid regime to further entrench its colonization of Palestinian land and dominate, isolate and displace the Palestinian population. Under the umbrella of Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip, these policies and practices have escalated to epic proportions, fueled by decisions and statements that incite attacks and promise impunity. It is the obligation of all states to take concrete measures to stop the Israeli regime’s ongoing forced displacement and transfer, colonization, and apartheid through the full spectrum of sanctions available under international law. As states continue to not only refuse to implement sanctions but also to provide political, financial and military support for Israel, their complicity deepens