Land Research Center

Violation : grazing of crops and vandalizing land.

Date : February, 2025

Location : Hawara – Yatta Town / Hebron governorate

Perpetrators : Colonial settlers .

Victims : Farmer Sufian Awwad and his relatives

Details : 

Citizen Sufian Yousef Ahmad  Awwad (48 years old ) reported that settlers are attacking his family’s lands in Hawara area, east of Yatta , south of Hebron Governorate, They are destroying the crops, grazing their sheep on the trees , and causing damage to the lands.

Awwad  explained: that his family, which consist of 50 members – Owned approximately 400 dunams of pasture land and other areas used for planting winter crops, in addition to   , decades old olive groves . He added that the settlers from colonial outpost located on the lands of Shomara area to the east, who own a herd of livestock are grazing their sheep on the family’s land , causing destruction to the crops.  

The affected farmer, Sufian Yousef Ahmad Awwad, told  LRC  researcher : 

‘’On January, 15, 2025,  we noticed that settler had brought his sheep onto our olive grove , and the sheep were grazing the trees, I went to the site with  a number og my cousins , who are the co-owners of the targeted groves , and we tried to speak with the settler shepherd to ask him to remove the sheep from our lands. However, he refused and attacked us, We called the occupation police and a military vehicle arrived with several soldiers from the occupation army, who detained me and my relatives, some of them are elderly. The soldiers said that these lands are classified as a ‘’state land’’- confiscated -and allowed the settler to  continue grazing his sheep on trees. After a while , another Israeli  police vehicle and another from the civil administration officers told us something different, that these lands are private property and  removed the settler and his sheep from our lands, who did not get much away from the land.

He added : 

‘’The next day, on January 16, 2025 , the settler returned and released his sheep into the crops and winter crops in the area, We contacted the occupation police, and they informed us that we had to go to the police center to file a written complaint against this settler. The landowners went to the center and presented the documents providing their ownership of the land, hoping that this would help to stop the settler from attacking it.’’

The affected citizen noted that they had  submitted another complaint through the  Palestinian Liaison Office to be forwarded  to the occupation police , pointing out that the settler   returned and released his sheep onto their lands multiple times after they had submitted these complaints.

It is worth mentioning that in 2022, settlers established an agricultural pastoral outpost in the Shomara area on the lands of the village of Al Zuweidin, about 2 kilometers away from the Hawara area. These settlers breed livestock and graze them on Palestinian lands in those area. The settler’s livestock have grazed more than thousands dunams from Palestinian lands, While  the settlers prevent local herders from accessing the pastures or their agricultural lands to make way for their sheep to graze on these lands. Overgrazing in Palestinian agricultural lands is one of the Israeli occupation's environmental violations:

The practice of overgrazing in cultivated lands can lead to soil erosion and degradation, It also reduces biodiversity, resulting in decreased productivity and biological diversity, which is one of the causes of desertification.

The constant trampling of plants by animals in green areas accelerates the death of plants and vegetation cover. As animals trample on the new growth buds of plants during grazing, it leads to soil erosion, which causes deterioration of agricultural lands. In areas like Bardala village, the damage is significant, leading to the ongoing process of desertification in agricultural regions, thus causing harm to the environment.

Legal commentary : 

The Palestinian environment, in general, is subjected to numerous environmental violations by the Israeli occupation, disregarding all international and national laws and conventions related to the protection of environmental rights. The right to live in a clean and healthy environment is a fundamental human right that has been inherent to mankind since the beginning of creation. The occupation often attempts to present itself as being concerned with international environmental issues, despite having signed major environmental protection agreements, such as the Basel Convention in 1989, the Rotterdam Convention in 2008, the Stockholm Convention in 2001, and the Ramsar Convention in 1971, as well as air quality and climate protocols. Nevertheless, Israel continues to violate all of these treaties without accountability or oversight.

In addition to the provisions regarding the right to enjoy a clean and healthy environment for all those under military occupation according to international laws, conventions, and treaties, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 2200A (d-21) on December 16, 1966, in Article (1), paragraph (2): "...All peoples, in pursuit of their own objectives, have the right to freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising from the international economic cooperation based on the principle of mutual benefit and international law. In no case shall a people be deprived of its means of subsistence...".

Undoubtedly, the violations carried out by the Israeli occupation contradicts with the laws of the occupation state itself before any other laws. Referring to the details of this case, the Israeli Penal Code of 1977 and its amendments stipulate that trespassing on someone else's property to commit a criminal act punishable by law is an offense. By reading Article 452 of the Israeli Penal Code, we find that the law punishes those who commit an offense or cause damage to property such as (a water well, a water reservoir, a dam, a floodgate, planted trees, a bridge, a tank, or a water cistern) with a penalty of five years imprisonment

In addition to, Article 447 of the Penal Code states: "Anyone who does any of the following with the intent to intimidate, insult, or harass the property owner or commit a crime shall be punished by imprisonment for two years:

(1) Enters or crosses the property;

  (2) After entering the property legally, remains there unlawfully

(b) A crime is committed under this section if the offender carries a firearm or a cold weapon, and the punishment is imprisonment for four years."

By reading the text of this article, we find that the Israeli Penal Code criminalizes the mere act of entering someone else's property without permission, with the intent to insult, harass, or intimidate, and punishes this act with two years of imprisonment. The punishment increases to four years if the offender commits any act on someone else's property using a weapon or a sharp tool, referred to as a "cold weapon." This is explicitly criminalized in the text of Article 447 of the aforementioned Israeli Penal Code. Additionally, a penalty of 5 years imprisonment is imposed on those who cause damage to property mentioned in Article 452. Therefore, the violator, the "settler," should face a compounded violation: the first for entering a property that is not theirs, and the second for trespassing on and cutting down the planted trees, resulting in environmental harm.

Therefore, the Israeli aggressor blatantly violates both international laws and treaties, as well as the internal laws of the "occupying state," in a clear violation. Consequently, the "Israeli judiciary" must hold the settlers accountable and punish them for these actions based on the provisions of their own laws. However, there is no legal accountability for the aggressors by the Israeli judiciary. Despite this, every human being on this earth has the right to live in a clean, healthy, and safe environment, free from any violation or aggression against it.

مشروع: حماية الحقوق البيئية الفلسطينية في مناطق "ج" SPERAC IV - FCDO

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of Land Research Center and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the project donor; the Norwegian Refugee Council.
إخلاء المسؤولية: الآراء ووجهات النظر الواردة في هذا التقرير هي آراء ووجهات نظر مركز أبحاث الأراضي ولا تعكس بالضرورة وجهات نظر أو مواقف الجهة المانحة للمشروع؛ المجلس النرويجي. للاجئين