SAFA - Israeli occupation forces have begun demolishing 27 commercial and industrial facilities in Jenin, located in the northern occupied West Bank. The operation has prompted concerns that it may be part of a wider plan to change the city's character and increase control over its land.

Demolitions in Jenin have continued in recent weeks, with a notable increase that has affected dozens of commercial and industrial establishments. These actions have coincided with the issuance of stop-work and demolition orders; land clearing; and property confiscation as part of ongoing restrictions on the city's infrastructure.

A significant acceleration: Tariq Ighbaria, the official in charge of settlement affairs in Jenin, stated that on Wednesday, occupation forces launched a large-scale demolition operation targeting more than 27 commercial and industrial facilities in Jenin, out of 40 that had received demolition notices approximately a week prior. 

In an exclusive interview with Safa News Agency, Ighbaria explained that the demolition process began in the Aaba area and at the Badia roundabout east of the city and proceeded along the bypass road to the village of Zababdeh southeast of the city.

The demolished structures included commercial and agricultural shops, small sheds, and vegetable stalls. According to local sources, around 200 residents relied on these facilities for their livelihoods.

Ighbaria said Jenin has experienced a sharp increase in demolition notices and stop-work orders in recent months. “This isn’t the first, second, or even the third time,” he said.

He noted that last July saw more than 12 demolitions targeting residential buildings, agricultural and economic facilities, and shops in the towns of Burqin, Arraba, Anza, Deir Abu Daif, and others. Ighbaria believes the demolition is a prelude to expanding and paving a road to reach the settlements of Homesh and Sanur, which the occupation authorities have decided to return to after their evacuation in 2005, during what is known as the "disengagement plan."

He stated that there has been a marked increase in demolition and construction halt orders in the city, which he said aim to expand settlements and increase control over the area.

Annexation of the West Bank

He adds, "We have noticed an increasing focus on the city of Jenin recently, but unfortunately, the occupation has now tightened its grip on the southern and central West Bank, leaving only the north and the city of Jenin to complete the full circle of annexation and control over the West Bank."

Jenin is located on the Marj Ibn Amer plain, the largest in Palestine, and near the Arraba plain, one of the most fertile areas in the region. According to Ighbaria, Israeli forces seek to control land and the agricultural and economic sectors in Jenin to facilitate settlement expansion.

He said the demolition process is part of a broader policy aimed at increasing control over residents and contributing to their displacement.

Engineering the Reality of Jenin

Ighbaria stated that settlement expansion has affected several areas, including the city's urban and natural landscapes and the agricultural sector, through land confiscation, bulldozing, and the uprooting of olive trees.

According to Ighbaria, the occupation authorities are working to destroy all the foundations of economic, agricultural, and industrial life in the Jenin Governorate, which increases the suffering of the citizens by confiscating their sources of income, fragmenting the city, and turning it into isolated population clusters.

The official in charge of the settlement file confirms that the occupation is re-engineering the Jenin Governorate, both geographically and demographically, and is tightening its grip on citizens and displacing them. 

He continues: "We have been facing a struggle for land with the occupation ever since it occupied the land of Palestine. The strategy it pursues through these measures and policies is to displace the Palestinian people, gain complete control over the land, and ultimately annex the West Bank."

Ighbaria said that these measures are part of a systematic effort to remove Palestinians from their land and prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.