Thousands held a rally, Friday in downtown Amman, Jordan, in solidarity with the people of Gaza and Lebanon in the face of the ongoing Israeli aggression.
The great march started after the Friday noon prayers from the famous Al-Husseini Mosque under the slogan “Cancel the shameful Wadi Araba Treaty”.
Participants denounced the genocide the Gazans are being subjected by the Israeli army with unlimited American and Western support whilst denouncing the international and Arab silence despite the massacres against the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The participants called on the government and Arab countries to take the necessary measures to stop the genocide and stop all forms of normalization with the Israeli army and called on Jordan government to cancel the 1994 Wadi Araba Agreement and the latest gas agreement.
The participants affirmed their support for the Palestinian resistance factions, led by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), noting the resistance constitutes the first line of defense against the Zionist expansionist project that targets Jordan as it targets Palestine according to Jordan24.
The Israeli occupation’s Ministry of War confirmed that 890 Israeli soldiers, officers, police and security services since 7 October.
The Israeli Ministry of War announced, Friday, the death toll of its army and security forces since 7 October, 2023.
The Qassam Brigades of Hamas and the resistance factions, launched Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa on in response to the violations of the Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories.
In return, the Israeli occupation launched a military operation against the Gaza Strip called “Iron Swords”, and launched a series of violent raids on many areas in the Strip, resulting in the deaths of of thousands of martyrs and wounding thousands more in addition to the destruction of large number of buildings, residential towers, institutions and infrastructure.
🚨🇮🇱 Though Netanyahu won’t admit it, ISRAELI journalists write that the over 2,985 ISRAELI soldiers have DIED since October 7th, and 11,600+ have been injured.
The occupation army continues its ongoing aggression on the Gaza Strip for the 385th day, targeting all aspects of life, committing unimaginable massacres and atrocities, and continuing its war of extermination against the Palestinian people in the northern Gaza Strip and its strict and stifling siege on hospitals, which are ringing the alarm bell due to the lack of supplies and fuel, while the resistance continues to confront the aggression by carrying out ambushes and targeting vehicles.
Illegal Jewish settlers carry out these illegal practices in various areas of the occupied West Bank with the full protection of the Israeli army.
Abdul Muti Yassin was surprised by a call from one of his relatives last September, informing him that illegal Jewish settlers were cutting down the olive trees on his land in the village of Yasuf, south of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.
Cutting down trees, especially ancient olive trees that characterize the mountains of the West Bank, is a routine policy implemented by the settlers under the directives of the Israeli occupation government, to steal more Palestinian lands.
Illegal Jewish settlers carry out these illegal practices in various areas of the occupied West Bank with the full protection of the Israeli army.
‘Without Olive Trees, We are Nothing’
When he received the call from his cousin, informing him that the settlers were cutting down his olive trees one by one, Yassin was not in his village.
"My olives, my olives"
Israelis uprooting olive trees with chainsaws and bulldozers.
He immediately headed back to his land, but the Israeli army prevented him from accessing it while allowing the illegal settlers to carry on what they were doing.
Dozens of olive trees were cut down, some older than 60 years old. Once they finished, the settlers left, leaving behind chaos and destruction.
“My land is located in Area B, which is supposed to be out of Israel’s jurisdiction, but apparently they have the upper hand to attack and steal whichever land they desire,” Yassin told the Palestine Chronicle.
Over the years, this Palestinian man took extra care of his trees, visiting weekly to ensure that they were in good condition.
“I was impatiently waiting for October so that my family and I could go pick the olives during the harvest season. Now, however, all we feel is sadness,” he said.
Yassin is also the owner of another piece of land in an area near his village.
He anticipated going there with his family to pick olive trees during the harvest season. However, illegal Jewish settlers again stood in his way, preventing him from reaching that land as well.
“For us Palestinians, our land and olive trees are everything … without them, we are nothing,” he said bitterly.
Use of Bulldozers
The village of Yasuf is characterized by a beautiful landscape, with olive trees disseminated across the slopes of the mountains.
The village, however, is routinely attacked by settlers, who often cut down olive trees.
Wael Abu Madi, head of the village council, told the Palestine Chronicle that the illegal settlers have intensified their attacks on the village since the start of the Israeli genocide on the Gaza Strip over a year ago.
Settlers often attack the lands of the villagers and prevent them from accessing to their lands.
“During this olive harvest season, they are using various methods to prevent people from reaching their lands, including the use of bulldozers to expel families,” the Palestinian official explained.
According to Abu Madi, the illegal settlers cut down over 150 olive trees on village lands classified as C last month alone. Some of these trees were more than 70 years old.
“These practices aim to expand one of the settlements at the expense of the village lands,” he pointed out.
Since the war broke out, the military has been almost completely preventing the Palestinian farmers from harvesting their olives. However, the settlers who steal the Palestinian-owned crops aren't being arrested or held accountable. Watch this video taken by us this morning: pic.twitter.com/72IHrdy5Qj
“We submitted an objection but were told that the lands belong to the settlers who planted parts of them with grape trees, and that cannot be undone,” Abu Madi added.
A total of 2,000 of the 6,000 dunums of the village lands have been confiscated for the benefit of illegal settlements.
The head of the village council stressed that settlers are currently doing everything they can to steal the remaining lands.
For several weeks, countless villages in the occupied West Bank have been subjected to these aggressions.
In Burqa, east of Ramallah, settlers have carried out aggressions on an almost daily basis, cutting down that were over a hundred years old.
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said in a recent statement that settlers destroyed a total of 9,957 trees since the beginning of the year, including 4,097 olive trees.
A total of 3,741 trees were uprooted in the city of Nablus, 3,055 in Bethlehem, and 2,125 trees were uprooted and damaged in Hebron (Al-Khalil).
The Commission stated that the scale of the current aggressions, aimed at systematically emptying Palestinian lands and turning them into barren lands, is unprecedented.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Fayha’ Shalash is a Ramallah-based Palestinian journalist. She graduated from Birzeit University in 2008 and she has been working as a reporter and broadcaster ever since. Her articles appeared in several online publications. She contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.
CrossFireArabia
