Enab Baladi – Rakan Khader
Forms of Israeli incursions into Quneitra province (southwestern Syria) have multiplied, from house searches and arrests of local young men, to the establishment of checkpoints that cut villages and towns off from each other, and up to the bulldozing of large swathes of state nature reserves across the province, including privately owned farmland in a rural area where most residents depend on agriculture and livestock.
The area bulldozed by the Israeli army has reached about 9,000 dunams, divided between 7,000 dunams in the northern countryside and 2,000 in the southern countryside of the province, with the largest share in the village of Jubata al-Khashab (northern rural Quneitra), according to Mohammad Fahd, a media worker in Quneitra.
In the Jubata al-Khashab forest reserve, 450 dunams of woodland were cut, in addition to 100 dunams in the al-Shahar reserve, planted with pine trees in the same village, and 100 more dunams of grazing land from which Israeli forces have barred herders. Further 100 dunams were bulldozed in the forests of Bariqa and Beerajam (southern rural Quneitra), and 50 dunams in the Kudna reserve (southern rural Quneitra).
Bulldozing and denied access
Israeli forces established a military post within agricultural land in Jubata al-Khashab and prevented farmers from accessing 5,000 dunams of land planted with grains and fruit trees such as olives, apples, cherries, and mulberries, unless they coordinate through the United Nations forces operating in the area, which has hindered farmers’ access to their land, the village mukhtar, Mohammad Mazen Mrayoud, told Enab Baladi.
Mrayoud added that the Israeli army has also completely barred residents from another 7,000 dunams of rangeland and grain fields in the village, causing a severe livelihood crisis for families who depend primarily on livestock breeding as a source of income.
Hasan Ahmad, a resident of the area, told Enab Baladi that he lost ten dunams of his land planted with olive, cherry, and peach trees, as well as an animal shed he had built there, after Israeli forces bulldozed the area.
He noted that the Israeli army also bulldozed 20 dunams of olive trees belonging to his neighbors from the Kiwan family, and ten dunams planted with olives and Syrian mulberry belonging to the Saad al-Din family in the same village, in addition to dozens of dunams of fruit trees and grains owned by several other families.
A resident of Beerajam (who asked not to be named for security reasons) told Enab Baladi that the Israeli incursions and bulldozing in the village have greatly affected residents’ livelihoods.
He added that Israeli forces bulldozed around 100 dunams of land in Beerajam and neighboring Bariqa, causing hardship for residents who depend on livestock breeding and some small-scale tourism activities.
“Below the poverty line”
“Families have fallen below the poverty line,” is how Hasan Ahmad from Jubata al-Khashab described the situation of residents in the area, explaining that those whose land has been bulldozed are now forced to work for others whose property has not yet been damaged, especially those who live outside the village.
He pointed out that 70% of the rangeland in Jubata al-Khashab has been bulldozed, forcing livestock breeders to sell part of their herds to secure their daily needs and to pay for fodder for the remaining animals.
Ahmad said that feeding 50 sheep now costs around 400,000 Syrian pounds per day, which is roughly 33 US dollars, after Israel prevented residents from accessing their pastures, amounts that far exceed the financial capacity of local families, as he put it.
In Beerajam, the situation is no better. Israeli measures have pushed most residents to leave the village, both because of the loss of rangeland and because the bulldozing has destroyed the green landscape that used to attract visitors to the area.
Complaints without results
Residents contacted United Nations forces operating in the area to complain about Israeli violations, according to the mukhtar of Jubata al-Khashab, who said that UN forces promised to convey the complaint to the United Nations, while stressing that their role on the ground is limited to monitoring only.
Hasan Ahmad from Jubata al-Khashab said that UN forces also promised to raise residents’ complaints to the Security Council and international organizations, but did not take any practical measures on the ground to deter Israeli forces.
He added that he personally contacted the International Committee of the Red Cross and several international organizations inside and outside Syria, as well as various local and Arab media outlets, in an attempt to show the reality of what is happening and to bring the picture to the world, but none of these efforts have produced any tangible result.
As for the Syrian government bodies, the mukhtar of Jubata al-Khashab said that residents contacted the governorate, which told them that the entire issue is part of a political track that the Syrian government is pursuing “at the highest levels” to secure the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area.
For his part, Hasan Ahmad said that residents also contacted the security official in Quneitra and the governorate, but received no response.
Official position
The director of the Agriculture Directorate in Quneitra, Jamal Ezz al-Din Mohammad Ali, told Enab Baladi that he carried out a field tour to assess the damage to agricultural lands after receiving complaints from farmers, and that the directorate submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Agriculture requesting compensation for those affected.
Regarding the forests, Mohammad Ali said that the Agriculture Directorate has contacted security agencies to stop the repeated Israeli violations, informed the governor of the current situation, and also communicated with the UN forces present in the province about the issue, without clarifying the nature or content of the responses received.
Residents of Quneitra lose their livelihoods Enab Baladi.
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