The region of Salfit suffers from an extremely high density of settlements built on confiscated Palestinian land. Much of this land is agricultural. There are 17 settlements, including Ariel, the largest settlement in the West Bank. Israeli settlers consider Ariel to be the capital of Samaria. The settlements in Salfit also include industrial, agricultural and military installations.
The Salfit district covers an area of over 200km2 with over 80,000 Palestinian spread out in around 20 towns and villages. They are mostly employed through agriculture.
Like many other districts in the West Bank, the people in Salfit suffer from very tough economic hardships due to the occupation. Both the growth in settlements and the construction of the Israeli Wall has contributed to further confiscation of agricultural land in Salfit. Thousands of olive trees have been uprooted and limited space for animals to roam has made farming extremely difficult. On top of this, the complex web roads built for settlers only make transportation extremely difficult. On a daily bases Palestinians face checkpoints and road closers making it impossible deliver goods and services in a timely manner.Non-treated waste from settlements are often discharged on Palestinian land without any proper treatment. This includes wastewater from Bargan and Ariel, which is discharged in the Al- Matwi valley. As a result many villages in Salfit have unsafe drinking water because of this pollution.
In addition, solid waste is also dumped on Palestinian land from nearby settlements. Since most of Salfit is agricultural, contaminants from these illegal, dumping grounds are picked up by rainwater and run directly in the ground and water supply. An example of this is in the village Deir Baloot. Waste from the Bargan settlement runs directly into their land. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health statistics, around 70 % of people in Salfit who have cancer come from Deir Baloot.
