Israeli occupation authorities issued a military order placing hand on 26.473 dunums of land in the villages of Deir Nizam, Umm Safa and Atara, northwest of Ramallah, for the carving of a settlement axis named "Atirat–Nefeh Tzuf emergency axis," under the pretext of "military purposes."
The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said the military order, bearing the number (T/48/26), was issued on 28 October and remains in force until the end of 2028. It grants the military commander exclusive possession of the lands specified in the attached maps, placing parts of the three villages' land under military control to serve the linkage between settlement sites.
The commission explained that the targeted lands include 5.891 dunums classified by the occupation authorities as "state lands," constituting about 22.3% of the total area, while the area of lands outside this classification stands at 20.582 dunums.
It noted that the order combines lands classified as "state lands" with others not so classified within a single route, reflecting the use of land classifications and military seizure orders to provide the spaces needed for settlement infrastructure.
It added that the axis aims to strengthen the network linking settlements and settlement outposts around the settlements of "Atirat" and "Halamish" (Nefeh Tzuf), facilitating settler movement and reinforcing their presence between Palestinian villages, in addition to the possibility of imposing further restrictions on landowners' access to plots adjacent to the route, according to implementation arrangements.
The commission stressed that the military order regulates hand placement and possession of the lands for a specific period without transferring their ownership in itself, warning against the use of military powers to entrench control over Palestinian land and expand settlement infrastructure.
