Tubas: Israeli occupation forces uprooted hundreds of trees and destroyed water pipelines on Thursday in the village of Atuf and the al-Baqi'a plain, east of the city of Tubas in the occupied West Bank, as part of ongoing land-clearing for the construction of a military road and a separation wall in the area.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency, Mutaz Bisharat, who is responsible for the Jordan Valley portfolio in the Tubas Governorate, reported that the activities began early on Thursday. The forces uprooted more than 300 olive and grape trees and damaged water pipelines that supply approximately 45,000 dunums of agricultural land.
The land-clearing operations in Atuf and the al-Baqi'a plain have been part of a series of actions since the beginning of the year. These operations are linked to the so-called Crimson Thread project, aimed at constructing a military road and a separation wall on Palestinian-owned land in the Tubas Governorate and the northern Jordan Valley.
The initial plans for the project indicate that the wall will stretch over 22 kilometers, from the village of Ein Shibli to the Tayasir military checkpoint. This development is anticipated to isolate tens of thousands of dunums of land, severing much of Tubas Governorate's agricultural area and increasing Israeli control over the Jordan Valley.