Nablus – Saba:
The Sebastia Municipality condemned, on Wednesday, the decision of the Zionist enemy authorities to convert approximately 1,775 dunams of the town’s lands into a so-called "Israeli archaeological site," describing it as a dangerous step to complete the Judaization of Sebastia and erase its national and cultural identity.
According to Palestine Today agency, the municipality stated in a press release that this unjust decision constitutes a blatant violation of citizens' rights to their agricultural and residential lands and a flagrant breach of international humanitarian law and cultural heritage protection agreements.
The municipality pointed out that the targeted lands form the agricultural and economic backbone of Sebastia, located northwest of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, with dozens of families depending on them for their livelihoods. Their seizure represents a direct attack on their source of income and their very existence on the land.
The statement strongly rejected the decision, which targets the historic heart of Sebastia and constitutes a direct assault on the rights of its people and their civilizational heritage spanning thousands of years.
The municipality warned of the dangerous consequences of the decision, including:
- Preventing citizens from accessing their lands
- Depriving them of farming, construction, or any economic or tourism activity
- Threatening their livelihoods and forcing displacement through economic suffocation
It called on the international community, particularly UNESCO and global heritage protection institutions, to intervene immediately to halt this blatant violation and hold the enemy state accountable for its colonial policies targeting Palestinian cultural existence.
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