The Israeli Occupation Forces began laying cement blocks along the separation wall west of the town of Qaffin, north of Tulkarm, in the West Bank, to separate thousands of agricultural dunums owned by Palestinian citizens from the surrounding villages.

This section extends from the village of Salem to the city of Tulkarm, 45 kilometers in length and up to 9 meters in height. This new section of the apartheid wall is set to include fortifications, as well as a variety of electronic devices.

Palestinian farmer Muhammad Saeed told Sputnik, "Five thousand dunums of the town of Qaffin will be denied to farmers, in addition to tens of thousands of dunums of neighboring villages."

Saeed added, that "in the past, we were only allowed to access our lands for 3 days, and often, they [IOF] prevented us from doing so under security pretexts, but with the construction of this wall, we will be denied entry altogether because there is an intent to harass us and rob us of our agricultural lands."

This portion of the wall will replace one that was constructed roughly 20 years ago and allowed residents access to their agricultural areas once a year and for a limited amount of time.

The mayor of Aqaba, Tulkarm, Tayseer Amarneh, told Sputnik, "These are Palestinian lands, and with the construction of the wall, we will not be able to access them because of security excuses, and our lands will be taken away with these flimsy pretexts."

Amarneh further added that when they first built the fence they said it was "a security fence." Today, however, "they are building a concrete wall under the same pretext." 

The one who stands to lose the most through this apartheid-like decision of annexation and clear segregation, Amraneh said, "is the Palestinian who will lose the land that he cultivates."

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