RAMALLAH, West Bank — “All this land is mine. I inherited it from my grandfather and father, and it is registered from the Ottoman days with document proof,” said Issa Abu Kebash, pointing to land extending over the Khirbet al-Radhim mountaintop. Abu Kebash, 74, said his land is at risk of confiscation by the Israeli authorities because it is located near the Green Line, the separating border between the occupied Palestinian territories in 1967 and those occupied in 1948.
Abu Kebash’s land, south of the town of Samou in the southern West Bank, is within Area C, which is under Israeli security and administrative control. It is surrounded by settlements on three sides, and the fourth is the separation wall. He said it's become a prison for his family and six other families still living there. His family lives in a cave known locally as Tur. One of the other families has its own cave as well.
Abu Kebash told Al-Monitor that the areathe area was once full of inhabitants who farmed the land they lived on. When Israel took control of the area in 1967, most of the residents left for the nearby town.
Mohammad Nidal, a civil engineer working for the Samou municipality, helped Al-Monitor reach the site. He said that the land, which is considered part of the Samou municipality, is one of eight khirbets (small communities) threatened with settlement and annexation around Samou. Its location in Area C makes it difficult for the municipality to provide services, like extending electricity lines or building roads, as it needs the approval of the Israeli authorities.
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