‘This land is mine’: Palestinian farmer’s last stand against settlement expansion

• Ayed Ghafri’s home in Sinjil stands at the frontline of Israel’s settlement push in the occupied West Bank
• 'I was born here. Nothing can uproot me from this land,' Ghafri tells Anadolu, despite facing near-daily assaults

RAMALLAH, Palestine / ISTANBUL

At the northern edge of the Palestinian village of Sinjil in the occupied West Bank, one house has become a frontline.

Behind barbed wire and surveillance cameras lives 45-year-old Ayed Ghafri, who insists he will never abandon the family home that guards the entrance to his village.

“My house is the gateway to Sinjil. If it falls, thousands of square meters of land and neighboring homes will fall with it,” he told Anadolu.

Life under pressure

The house sits on a road connecting Ramallah and Nablus, used daily by illegal Israeli settlers. Ghafri says he faces near-constant harassment, insults, attempted ramming, and even armed intimidation.

“I’ve lost count of the times they attacked me,” he said. “But I was born here. I know how to face extremists. Even with guns in their hands, I do not fear them. Nothing can uproot me.”

His father, brothers and their children once lived with him. They left after repeated illegal settler and army assaults intensified following Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023. Ghafri, however, chose to stay and face the enemy.

“We did not risk the children’s lives, but I will never abandon this house,” he said.

Frontline of Sinjil

Fifteen Palestinian families once lived on the same stretch of road. Only five remain today. “I consider myself a rock against settlement ambitions, the first line of defense for my village,” Ghafri said.

He points to a barren patch where olive trees once stood. “The youngest tree was older than Israel itself,” he said. “They uprooted them only because their owner was Palestinian.”

Over the past months, Israeli bulldozers uprooted about 400 olive trees in Sinjil to construct a 1.2-kilometer fence, citing protection for illegal settler vehicles.

“I walk around my land and see destroyed trees,” Ghafri said. “They were removed in the blink of an eye. There is no security reason, only an attempt to squeeze us out.”

Ghafri owns four dunams (4,000 square meters) of land and has long been active in anti-settlement protests, a role that he says led Israeli police to classify him as a “security risk.”

'Between surrender and resistance'

According to the Palestinian Authority, July alone saw more than 1,200 attacks across the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, including 466 by settlers.

Palestinian figures show that around 770,000 illegal settlers now live in over 180 settlements and 256 outposts across the West Bank.

Since 2023, Israel has accelerated demolitions, expulsions and settlement construction in what Palestinians warn is a de facto annexation drive.

For Ghafri, the struggle is both personal and historical. “Between surrender and resistance there is just a moment of decision,” he said. “Life is in God’s hands. The settler cannot advance or delay it. Once you believe this, you stand firm.”

Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, at least 1,016 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal. It demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.