Israel's West Bank actions bury hope for Palestinian statehood

It is carving up land for more Jewish settlements, stifling Palestinian movement

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As US President Donald Trump announced a plan this week to end the Gaza war and suggested a possible path to a Palestinian state, Mr Ashraf Samara in the Israeli-occupied West Bank watched bulldozers around his village help bury his hopes for statehood.

Surrounded by armed security guards, the Israeli machinery shoved aside earth to create new routes for Jewish settlements, carving up the land around Mr Samara’s village of Beit Ur al-Fauqa and creating new barriers to movement for Palestinians.

"This is to prevent the residents from reaching and using this land," said Mr Samara, a member of his village council.

He told Reuters the move would “trap the villages and the residential communities” by confining them to the areas they live in.

With each new road that makes movement for Jewish settlers easier, Palestinians in the West Bank who are usually barred from using the routes face fresh hurdles in reaching nearby towns, workplaces or agricultural land.