their associated infrastructure such as checkpoints and by-pass roads. In addition, according to proposed Israeli construction plans, the Annexation and Separation Wall, after completion, will confiscate 18,827 dunums of Palestinian land, equivalent to 55% of Deir Istiya’s total area, for Israeli settlement activities.157 By-pass Roads The by-pass road system is designed to connect the Israeli colonies with each other and cities inside Israel, in order to facilitate the movement of Israeli colonizers between them, without requiring passage through Palestinian inhabited areas. This system was initiated during the first stages of colonization of the oPt in the 1970s. While the stated common purpose of roads is to connect people and places, the majority are only accessible to Jewish-Israelis. Further, most by-pass roads in the West Bank create a physical barrier that stifles Palestinian urban and social development and has led to both isolation and fragmentation of Palestinian communities. The actual route and structure of these by-pass roads in the West Bank indicate a discriminatory policy and deepen Israeli spatial domination of the West Bank and its inhabitants. Denial of use is enforced in practice and materializes as a consequence of other illegal policies, rather than being traced in Israeli declared measures or orders. The expansion of Road 55,158 located next to Deir Istiya, led to the closure of all the agricultural roads previously used by Palestinian farmers, cutting them off from their farm lands located on the opposite side of the by-pass road. As a result, farmers were de facto denied use of their land. The only way farmers can access their fields is by using a rainwater tunnel, big enough to walk through but which does not have capacity for transferring farm equipment or livestock. This Israeli by-pass road obstructed privatelyowned Palestinian land and severely curtailed farmers’ movement, resulting in an adverse impact on their means of livelihood, which is agriculture. This policy of denial of use and access is also happening in the nearby area called Wadi Qana. Wadi Qana is a fertile valley that includes natural springs and privately owned Palestinian farmland, which has been cultivated by its inhabitants for generations. In 1979, this area was declared a closed military zone, although the order was withdrawn following popular protests.159 157 Id., 19. 158 Israeli-built road that connects colonies north of the West Bank with Israel. The road links the city of Kfar Saba inside Israel with colonies near Nablus, and ends in Road 60, another colonizer road that cuts through all of the West Bank. 159 International Women’s Peace Service, “Wadi Qana,” 2014, available at: http://iwps.info/villages/ wadi-qana/ [accessed 22 September 2017]; Wadi Qana History, “Timeline,” n.d., available at: http:// wadiqana.wixsite.com/salfit/timeline [accessed 22 September 2017]. 57