Israel has seized 550 acres of land belonging to the Palestinian town of Marda in the northern occupied West Bank's Salfit province, citing "military purposes," the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission said.
The government body said in a statement that Israeli authorities issued a new military order "to seize 2,224 dunams (550 acres) of land belonging to Marda."
The order targets land in the areas of Wadi Qasim and Kafif al-Abhar and "explicitly provides for taking control of the specified area and transferring its possession to the Israeli military commander through the relevant official at Israel's Defense Ministry," it said.
According to the commission, maps attached to the military order show that the targeted land lies directly south of Route 505, near the intersection with a local road leading to an area north of the Ariel illegal settlement, roughly midway between Marda and Jamain.
The site has strategic importance because of its position overlooking and controlling a key transportation route in the area, the commission said. It added that the stated purpose of the seizure is "to establish a tower or communications facility."
Expanding land confiscation orders
The commission said the order comes amid an expanding use by Israeli authorities of "seizure for military purposes" orders to temporarily take control of Palestinian land and reshape control over routes, corridors and areas surrounding illegal settlements.
Israeli authorities issued 33 military orders in July, including 31 new seizure orders targeting 205,324 acres of Palestinian land, according to a commission statement issued August 3.
About 750,000 Israeli occupiers live in 156 illegal settlements and 360 outposts across the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and carry out attacks under Israeli military protection with the aim of forcibly displacing Palestinians.
