DaysofPal- Israeli settlers have taken control of roughly 50 acres of farmland in Masafer Yatta, southern West Bank, belonging to Nidal Jboor, a Palestinian-American physician and co-founder of Doctors Against Genocide (DAG), which is a coalition of medical professionals formed to protest the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.
The confiscated land, home to more than 500 olive trees as well as almond and grape groves, has been in Jboor’s family for generations.
It was also prominently featured in the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land.
Speaking from Michigan, Jboor said he was “heartbroken” after learning on 18 August that Israeli settlers had occupied the land.
His family in Palestine, including his parents, seven brothers, and three sisters, witnessed armed settlers set up tents, erect small structures, and graze livestock on the property, all under the protection of Israeli soldiers.
Jboor explained that his family checked legal records to confirm ownership and found no military orders or sales agreements affecting the land, affirming it still belongs to them. However, he fears that settlers’ rapid construction will allow them to claim ownership, a process that has often been retroactively legitimized by Israeli authorities.
“Once they build, they start saying it’s their land and that we need to leave. We can’t fight with weapons, we have nothing compared to their guns and the army protecting them,” Jboor said.
The land grab comes against the backdrop of decades-long efforts by Israel to turn much of Masafer Yatta into a military training zone, which has led to mass demolitions and displacement of Palestinian families.
Jboor, who holds US citizenship, says he plans to lobby American politicians, stressing that the settlers’ rifles are American-made.
He voiced alarm over Washington’s decision earlier this year to approve the transfer of over 20,000 US-manufactured assault rifles to the Israeli occupation, weapons he fears could end up in the hands of violent settlers.
“We know how dangerous these settlers are. I’m terrified that one day my father, my sisters, or my cousins could be killed,” he said.
The emotional toll, Jboor added, goes beyond safety. His family has spent decades cultivating the land:
“Every olive and grape tree is like part of them. It’s not easy for strangers to walk in and claim everything they’ve worked for as their own.”
The seizure comes just weeks after Awdah Hathleen, an activist and teacher who advised on No Other Land, was shot dead by settler Yinon Levi three miles from Jboor’s family’s property.
Despite video evidence showing Levi opening fire, he was released from custody. Levi had previously been sanctioned by both the US and EU for violent attacks on Palestinians, but those sanctions were lifted during the Trump administration.
For Jboor, Hathleen’s killing underscores the danger his own family now faces.
“That’s why I am so worried for them,” he said.
Reports by Israeli rights group Kerem Navot argue that declaring Palestinian land as military zones is often a cover for transferring it to settlers.
“The aim is to sharply curtail Palestinian access to land and hand it over to Israeli settlements.” the group wrote,
The US State Department has so far declined to comment on Jboor’s case.
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