A four-by-four vehicle field tour for Israeli journalists in western Samaria, organized last week by the Regavim movement, highlighted the illegal expansion of Palestinian Authority communities, extending to within a few kilometers of Israel’s seam-line towns.
Regavim is a research-based advocacy organization focused on land use and sovereignty issues in Israel.
The tour also documented environmental damage in the area, including the flow of untreated sewage, illegal dumping and the burning of waste, which causes severe air pollution often reported in nearby Israeli communities.
The outing began in the Rafat Valley, on the outskirts of the Palestinian Authority town of Deir Ballut in Area B (under Palestinian civil administration and Israeli security control), where a stream of trash and raw sewage was observed flowing through the area, accompanied by a strong putrid odor.
Menash Shmueli, the field coordinator for Regavim who led the tour, explained that such untreated sewage flows are common, originating from factories in the Palestinian Authority and flowing into streams that run down into central Israel.
“This is a third-world country just two kilometers from Rosh HaAyin,” he said.
The group was then led into IDF Firing Zone 203, in Area C, under full Israeli control, where piles of fresh garbage were strewn along the trail. Inspecting the trash, it was evident that the waste had been illegally brought over from Rosh HaAyin and dumped.
Shmueli explained that, in addition to illegal waste dumping carried out in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, some construction contractors inside Israel proper seeking to reduce disposal costs transport construction waste from building sites and dump it in Judea and Samaria.
“While there is inspection of vehicles coming out of Judea and Samaria, there is no inspection going the other way,” Shmueli claimed.
He led the group into an unrecognized neighborhood of Deir Ballut that extends into the firing zone on Israeli state land and has steadily expanded over the past few years, with luxurious villas, sports fields, factories and more. The government via the Civil Administration has issued demolition orders for some of the illegal structures, but there has been minimal enforcement, Shmueli said.
He explained that following demolition orders, extremist left-wing organizations then assist local Arabs and file petitions to Israel’s High Court of Justice.
Years of bureaucracy often prevent any meaningful action toward demolition, Shmueli said. Arabs act with impunity “with full confidence knowing they can build here, and nobody will carry out demolitions.”
The group was then taken to a lookout point about a kilometer away from Rosh HaAyin, strewn with stacked tires and trash that appeared to be prepared for burning in the near future.
It was close enough to the city that an Israel Border Police vehicle was dispatched to the fence below us separating the city from Samaria to ensure the visitors did not have nefarious intentions.
Shmueli noted that terrorists in Gaza have used underground tunnel networks, and warned that the roads leading toward Rosh HaAyin could become above-ground “tunnels” used for a large-scale infiltration similar to the Oct. 7, 2023, breach.
“Before October 7, terrorists felt at ease approaching the fence separating Israel from Gaza. Here, too, they feel they can burn garbage about a kilometer away from Rosh HaAyin without consequence,” he warned.
‘The tactic is aligned’
He then took out a detailed map highlighting built-up areas under the P.A. in Areas A and B, along with marked zones that have been designated for development but remain unused. He said the map shows there is ample space for construction, but argued that the strategy of those under the P.A. is to claim that Israel does not grant building permits to Arabs in Area C, alleging discrimination.
He said the tactic is aligned with both the 2009 “Fayyad Plan” and the 2022 “European Joint Development Programme for Area C,” which aim to strengthen the presence of Palestinians in Israeli-controlled areas.
“The E.U. claimed this was for humanitarian purposes, but it’s all about trying to take over area C,” Shmueli said.
After viewing another heavily polluted stream containing sewage, discarded animal carcasses and bones, the group stopped at a factory that produces couches.
Approaching the building, Shmueli pointed out littered couch materials—some in bags—and other areas where discarded couch parts had been burned as waste.
The factory manager and several workers came outside and warmly greeted the unexpected Israeli visitors.
When asked about the discarded couch parts along the route, the manager claimed they had been dumped by local villagers and that the factory was not responsible. He expressed no apprehension about operating a business in an illegal structure within an IDF firing zone.
The group existed the firing zone and met with Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, who spoke at the “Balcony of Israel” lookout point in Peduel, overlooking Tel Aviv and other cities in central Israel.
Dagan emphasized that one of the central issues facing the region is the future development of land. “It’s important to remember that nearly 90% of the territory in Judea and Samaria remains uninhabited by both Jews and Arabs, amounting to roughly five million dunams [500,000 hectares, or about 1.2 million acres],” he said.
Dagan warned of a growing focus among Arab actors on creating building continuity along the seam line, which he said could enable the conditions for another Oct. 7-style attack. “We therefore have to change the equation,” he said.
Naomi Linder Kahn, director of the International Division of Regavim, commented on the tour, telling JNS that what was seen was the result of the Israeli government’s failure to effectively govern.
“Nature detests a vacuum, but anti-Israel forces adore the vacuum created by Israel’s reticence,” Kahn said.
She added, “When the State of Israel chooses the path of least resistance, preferring ‘quiet’ over confrontation with the European-funded forces that are taking control of Israel’s national assets, the result is the disaster you are seeing with your own eyes.”
