Seventy acres, located at the northern tip of the West Bank, were seized in 1979 via a confiscation order which has been renewed regularly ever since.
After being informed this week that the measure had been renewed again, the chancellor of the Latin Catholic Church in Jerusalem, Fr Ibrahim Shomali told Premier: “It’s our land.
“We have to have the right of our land. They are taking the land without our permission and without any agreement between us and them.”
The land forms part of a larger collection of plots which the Latin Catholic Church says it has been using for agricultural purposes.
The Latin Catholic Church says the Israeli military has claimed certain “security reasons” to justify occupying the land.
Fr Ibrahim: “We are not ready to give any land to anybody because it’s our land and we have to keep it for ourselves and for the future of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
“You can’t put your hand on it without the permission of anybody.”
In a statement posted online, the Patriarchate said it would “contest” the seizure.
Premier has contact the Government of Israel and the Israel Defence Forces for a comment.
Click here to listen to Premier’s Alex Williams speaking with Fr Ibrahim Shomali:
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