Settlers Install Two Gates in Wadi Hamad to Secure the So-Called “Heroes’ Trail” and Tighten Control over Palestinian Land

Ramallah – 6 September 2026

Sharek Youth Forum warns of a dangerous new escalation today in Wadi Hamad, Kafr Ni’ma, where Israeli settlers installed two new gates as part of efforts to secure the recently established so-called “Heroes’ Trail,” which cuts through privately owned Palestinian land, including cultivated and developed areas.

According to field monitoring, the first gate was installed at the wadi crossing in the direction of Ras Karkar, while the second was placed before the Wadi Al-Shabab crossing. This development raises serious concerns that the gates will be used to control movement in the area and further restrict Palestinian farmers and landowners from accessing their land and property.

Sharek stresses that this development cannot be viewed in isolation. It forms part of an escalating pattern of actions in Wadi Hamad, including the construction of roads and trails, land leveling and bulldozing, and the establishment of settlement-related structures and outposts — measures that are progressively creating new facts on the ground and tightening control over the area.

The transformation of Palestinian-owned land into routes serving settlers, followed by the installation of gates controlling access to and from these areas, represents a grave escalation — shifting from attacks on the land to the systematic consolidation of control over it and the imposition of a new reality by force. Such measures directly threaten landowners’ rights, their access to their property, and their ability to cultivate and use their land.

Sharek further stresses that the continuing attacks in Wadi Hamad have also forced the Youth Village to suspend its work, depriving thousands of young Palestinians of access to its facilities, programmes and activities, amid continued attacks and systematic destruction targeting the area.

Sharek therefore calls for immediate action to remove the newly installed gates, halt all attacks and attempts to seize or take control of Palestinian land, guarantee farmers and landowners safe and unrestricted access to their property, and enable the Youth Village to resume its work safely and without restrictions. It further calls for an immediate end to the systematic destruction targeting the Youth Village, its facilities and surrounding area.

Sharek also calls upon the relevant Palestinian authorities, international organisations and human rights bodies to assume their responsibilities by documenting these violations, pursuing accountability for those responsible, ensuring that perpetrators are held accountable and punished, and preventing impunity, while providing effective protection for Palestinian civilians, farmers and institutions operating in the area.

Sharek warns that continued inaction over developments in Wadi Hamad risks allowing repeated attacks to evolve into a permanent and systematic settlement reality, undermining Palestinian ownership of the land, restricting access to it, and threatening the Palestinian presence in the area.

Sharek Youth Forum

6 September 2026