 According to ARIJ, Marda has suffered "numerous Israeli confiscations for the benefit of the various Israeli objectives," including the confiscations of 2,566 dunums (29%) of village land in order to establish the Israeli settlement of Ariel just south of Marda.In addition, land was confiscated from Salfit, Kifl Haris and Iskaka villages for Ariel.According to what the head of the village council told HRW