Israel plans new W. Bank land seizures: Local official

By Lubaba Thuqan

NABLUS, Palestine (AA) - The Israeli army plans to seize more Palestinian land in the village of Burin near the West Bank city of Nablus, according to a local official.

Yahia Kadous, head of Burin's local council, told Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that the Israeli authorities had informed the council of their decision to seize eight dunams of land from a secondary school in the village.

Two Palestinian property owners in the village received similar notices in which they were warned that the authorities planned to confiscate a total of seven dunams of their land.

One dunam is roughly equivalent to 900 square meters.

According to Kadous, the Israeli authorities claim that the planned confiscations are meant to protect Israeli settlers in the area from stone-throwing Palestinian youth.

A total of ten dunams of the school’s land have already been seized by the Israeli authorities, Kadous said.

Surrounded by three Jewish-only settlements, Burin is the scene of frequent clashes between Palestinian residents on one hand and Israeli troops and Jewish settlers on the other.