The Sabarneh family of Beit Ummar had not worked their farmlands in recent years due to the high cost of agricultural work and other engagements. Following the economic hardships created by the coronavirus crisis, they decided to enhance the soil and plant grape vines, olive and almond trees, in the hope that the expected produce would help support the family’s livelihood in the future.
The settlement of Carmei Tzur was established in 1984, about 250 meters from the family’s farmlands, which stretch over 25 dunams [1 dunam = 1,000 sq. meters] south of Beit Ummar.
On Sunday morning, 19 April 2020, Ibrahim Sabarneh (52) arrived with his young sons at their plot with two tractors he had rented to plow the land.
Shortly after, four settlers arrived from the direction of Carmei Tzur. They yelled at the tractor drivers and demanded they stop working, claiming that the farmland did not belong to the Sabarneh family. Even though Ibrahim quickly explained that he owns the plot and has documents to prove it, the tractor drivers did not want to get in trouble and left the area.
Sabarneh and his sons stayed on their land. About an hour later, an Israeli DCO vehicle arrived, escorted by dozens of soldiers. The DCO officer ordered the family to leave and told Ibrahim to call another DCO officer to take care of the land ownership issue.
After repeated inquiries with the Israeli DCO, Sabarneh finally got an answer. The DCO informed him that he had to submit the ownership documents to the Palestinian DCO, and in the meanwhile, forbade him to access his land.