The Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA) organized a field visit to Sabastia municipality with the participation of the French Consul, Mr. Nicolas Kassianides, and his accompanying delegation, alongside the Mayor of Sebastia, Mohammed Azzam, and representatives from the municipality and APLA staff. The visit took place in the framework of the project “Empowering Local Government Units through Local Economic Development Grants,” funded by the French government through the French Consulate. It forms part of a broader cooperation track that combines support to local development initiatives with a direct conversation on the political environment in which Palestinian LGUs operate.

During the visit, Mayor Mohammed Azzam presented an overview of the situation in Sabastia and the main challenges facing the town, in particular the land acquisition policies pursued by the occupation and their impact on residents and on the municipality’s ability to invest in local economic development, tourism and cultural heritage. He explained that more than 50% of the town’s land has been seized, as part of policies that aim to alter the character of the area and restrict the municipality’s capacity to plan and implement medium- and long-term development projects.

Within this project, the intervention in Sabastia focuses on rehabilitating the “Panorama Hill” area and establishing touristic kiosks as a first phase, with the aim of strengthening the local touristic route, providing basic infrastructure that enables the municipality to offer better services to visitors, and creating more space for local economic activity linked to heritage.

This visit is one step in a wider process through which APLA, the French Consulate and other partners are working to build development partnerships grounded in an accurate understanding of the political and economic context in different Palestinian localities. In this approach, projects are not treated only as service- or economy-oriented interventions, but also as tools to strengthen the position of local authorities in discussions on the future of land and resources, and on the role of municipalities in shaping public policy at the local level.