Israeli troops have surrounded a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank after several weeks of demonstrations against the latest stretch of the West Bank barrier.
For at least the past two days the military has placed a cordon around the village of Nilin, imposing what it calls a "closure" and preventing people from entering or leaving. Nilin is the latest village to join a small but growing protest movement that organisers say is supposed to remain non-violent, but which often involves stone throwing.
The military said the closure was a direct response to the protests. "There have been riots in the past few weeks and there is a closure now," said a military spokeswoman. She said three Israeli soldiers and five border policeman had been injured in recent protests and that a closure had been imposed since Sunday morning. Villagers said Nilin had been closed for four days.
A major demonstration is planned for Thursday this week, but villagers say they have been told the Israeli military cordon will remain as long as the demonstrations continue.
Dozens of protesters, both Palestinians and foreigners, have also been injured, some seriously, when troops and policeman have fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets at the crowds. In the most recent incident, on Sunday, one soldier and 50 demonstrators were injured.
Protests have recently started against the building on the village's farmland of a stretch of the barrier that will place 2,500 dunams (250 hectares) of Nilin's farmland on the "Israeli" side, an area of the West Bank which here has been used to build several Jewish settlements, including Hashmoniim. Two other settlements, Nili and Na'ale, have also been built to the east of the village and the people of Nilin fear they will soon be surrounded and cut off. All settlements in the occupied territories are illegal under international law.
"Our land will be divided into small cantons," Salah Khawaja said before the latest Israeli military operations. Khawaja, 40, is one of the organisers of the village protests and works as an administrator in a medical organisation.
"People in this area were totally dependent on agriculture but now they are imposing a transfer and migration policy on us in a very harsh way. Everyone can see the quantity and quality of land they are going to confiscate," he said.
In 1948, at the time of the creation of the state of Israel, the village had around 57,000 dunams of land, he said. It now has around 10,000 and will have even fewer when the latest part of the barrier is finished.
For at least the past two days the military has placed a cordon around the village of Nilin, imposing what it calls a "closure" and preventing people from entering or leaving. Nilin is the latest village to join a small but growing protest movement that organisers say is supposed to remain non-violent, but which often involves stone throwing.
The military said the closure was a direct response to the protests. "There have been riots in the past few weeks and there is a closure now," said a military spokeswoman. She said three Israeli soldiers and five border policeman had been injured in recent protests and that a closure had been imposed since Sunday morning. Villagers said Nilin had been closed for four days.
A major demonstration is planned for Thursday this week, but villagers say they have been told the Israeli military cordon will remain as long as the demonstrations continue.
Dozens of protesters, both Palestinians and foreigners, have also been injured, some seriously, when troops and policeman have fired tear gas and rubber-coated bullets at the crowds. In the most recent incident, on Sunday, one soldier and 50 demonstrators were injured.
Protests have recently started against the building on the village's farmland of a stretch of the barrier that will place 2,500 dunams (250 hectares) of Nilin's farmland on the "Israeli" side, an area of the West Bank which here has been used to build several Jewish settlements, including Hashmoniim. Two other settlements, Nili and Na'ale, have also been built to the east of the village and the people of Nilin fear they will soon be surrounded and cut off. All settlements in the occupied territories are illegal under international law.
"Our land will be divided into small cantons," Salah Khawaja said before the latest Israeli military operations. Khawaja, 40, is one of the organisers of the village protests and works as an administrator in a medical organisation.
"People in this area were totally dependent on agriculture but now they are imposing a transfer and migration policy on us in a very harsh way. Everyone can see the quantity and quality of land they are going to confiscate," he said.
In 1948, at the time of the creation of the state of Israel, the village had around 57,000 dunams of land, he said. It now has around 10,000 and will have even fewer when the latest part of the barrier is finished.
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