In the West Bank, Israeli settlers speed up land grab from Palestinians

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0:21Today on State of the World, an oasis of water in the occupied West Bank, once a destination for Palestinian herders, now for Israeli settlers.

0:36You're listening to State of the World from NPR, the day's most vital international stories, up close where they're happening. It's Wednesday, May 27th. I'm Christine Arismeth. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers are forcing Palestinian farmers from land their families have cultivated for generations. Since the start of the war in Gaza, Israel's government has approved new settlements at a record rate and has also armed Israeli settlers, who are often protected by the Israeli military. The United Nations documents a record number of attacks by settlers, mainly focused on taking agricultural fields from Palestinians.

1:18NPR's Ruth Sherlock tells the story of one Palestinian pushed from land around an important spring. and an Israeli settler who now swims in these waters.

1:31We meet Palestinian farmer Hamail as he tends to his beehives on a small patch of land sandwiched between a mall and high-rise buildings on the outskirts of Ramallah city. He has them here, he says, to keep them safe from Israeli settlers. We put our boxes between the houses, because if we put it in the mountains, they will steal it. Hamail asks NPR only to use his last name because he fears further settler attacks. He checks the health of the queen in each hive as the bees fly around him. They are all Hamail has left. He used to own a farm near his home village of Kufur Malik in the occupied West Bank.

2:20He had six employees until, he says, he was forced off the land by settlers. Now they damage our life completely. Even before, he says, settlers would bring sheep to destroy his crops. They eat our plants. They damage our irrigation system. He says his family farmed that land for generations. It was fed by water from a nearby spring, Ain Samia, where he learned to swim as a child. All of our memories, our stories, our father's stories, grandfather's stories, it's around the water, the sheeps, the agriculture. So it's our soul. During the war in Gaza, with so many soldiers deployed to the front, Israel loosened its gun licence laws for Israelis and gave settlers automatic rifles.

3:11Now, Hamel says, accessing his land has become simply too dangerous. If you were there, you are not safe. Maybe you would be killed. Many people killed when they go to their fields. We say goodbye to Hamel and drive through the occupied West Bank towards his land. Everywhere here, Israeli flags, settlement after settlement after settlement. This road is pretty empty except for police vehicles, military vehicles, security vehicles, the odd car. It does not feel normal here. We reach Hamel's fields, and NPR's West Bank producer, Noha Musle, points to a handful of prefabricated buildings on a hilltop.

3:58See the outpost? This is where the settlers that Hamel says attacked him live. A canvas shade, decorated with bunting and Hebrew writing, stands beside the spring where Hamel would swim. Today, it's Israeli settlers enjoying the waters. Hello, how are you? I'm Ruth. We approach a woman as she's leaving.

4:25She's called Noah, a settler who looks in her mid-30s, who refuses to give her family name. She says she finds the spring to be a beautiful place. I like it very much because it's, first of all, it's a great water. It's very nice to be inside and do have this nice coffee. And I just needed a break from life. She points to the Israeli settler outpost that Hamel says he was attacked from. And we have amazing people that live over there and over there and over there. Every single hill. And they're watching us and they're helping us to be here. I tell her about Palestinian Hamel's situation. This land in front of us was his.

5:11They came and they forced him from the land.

5:39and he wants us to be here. When we leave the area, a large white SUV starts following us bumper to bumper. He is a settlement guard. He drives behind us like this for miles on an empty road before apparently deciding we are not a threat. We ask Palestinian Hamel about the settler claims that this land rightfully belongs to Jews. The problem, he answers, is that when they make this argument, they are also holding a gun. So, he says, there's no discussion. Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Ein Samir in the Occupied West Bank.

6:28That's the State of the World from NPR. Thanks for listening.