By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The national Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report that ,the Israeli settlement activities continue in spite of the presidential statement by the UN Security Council as an alternative to the original draft resolution that the United Arab Emirates had submitted to the Council in coordination with the Palestinian side, confirming the Council’s condemnation of Israel’s settlement activities. Last week, the Occupation Authorities deposited plans to build 7,157 settlement units in the West Bank, provided that next month they will consider approving 3,412 units in the E1 area.
In 2022 a total of 4,427 housing units were submitted for final approval, while in 2021, 3,645 housing units were developed. Among the plans that were promoted, 5,257 housing in settlements, and 1,900 housing units in outposts were submitted for final approval, four of which are related to settlement outposts.
Within this context, the so-called Israeli Supreme Planning Council approved the construction of 1,000 settlement units in the “Gush Etzion” settlement bloc, south of Bethlehem, distributed among the settlements of “Eliezer Netiv Avot” 433 settlement units, “Bnei Kedem” 120 units, “Alon Shvut” 18 units, “Alfi Hanachel” 76 units, “Ma’aleh Amos” 409 units, “Matzad” 6 units. The building approvals follow the destruction of 15 homes in Netiv Avot by order of the Supreme Court in 2018.
At that time, head of the Gush Etzion Council, Shlomo Neiman announced that a governmental decision was being prepared regarding the construction of hundreds of housing units in the place of the 15 houses that were destroyed. Ne’eman himself commented on the government’s new decision: “Today we close the circle that I started at the beginning of my work in the council exactly 6 years ago. He thanked all ministers, and he wished to obtain more approvals for construction in settlements in the Land of Israel.
For its part, the Occupation Municipality in Jerusalem revealed plans that are already being implemented after their final approval in the various planning committees, and explained that there are several strategic plans that will change the status of the city and affect its Palestinian citizens and its future.
Moreover, it revealed that the focus is on the north and south of the city to isolate it from its depth in the occupied West Bank with the cities of Ramallah to the north with a new settlement that is being finalized in place of Jerusalem Airport – Qalandia under the name “Atarot”, with 9,000 settlement units, and in the south of occupied Jerusalem expansion of the settlements of “Gilo and Har Hamatos” and Jabal Abu Ghneim, and what is planned on the lands near Deir Mar Elias as an extension of the settlement of “Tal Piot” as part of the master plan to create two settlement blocs in the north and south that would prevent the connection of occupied East Jerusalem with the West Bank.
In addition, according to Occupation Municipality, the Begin’s roofing project, which will be built on the lands of the displaced village of Lifta Al-Fawqa was approved last week to be deposited with the local planning committee, to establish communication between the north-east and west of the city and central Jerusalem including a plan to connect Tel-Aviv by the transitional wall by extending a railway line –Israel- to the old Ottoman Khan complex in Abu Tor in the occupied Jerusalem, south of the Old City, and from there by cable car supervised by the Elad Settlement Association, to the Old City and from there to Mount Tur and from there crossed line n 4 towards the Lions Gate.
The so-called Supreme Council for Planning and Building at the Civil Occupation Administration in the West Bank approved the annexation of settlement outposts, where the “Bnei Kedem” outpost, in which the head of the Legislative Committee in the Knesset, “Smkha Rotman” lives, was legalized, and it was annexed to the “Metsad” settlement in the Jordan Valley, while the outpost was legalized “Zayt Ra’anan” near Ramallah and its annexation to the “Talmon” settlement.
The “Ma’ale Adumim” settlement will have the largest number of settlement units, as 1,100 settlement units have been allocated in it, while 630 units will be built in the “Kochav Ya’akov” settlement near Ramallah, in addition to To 485 units in the “Givat Ze’ev” settlement near Jerusalem, and 485 units in the “Ma’ale Amos” settlement near Hebron. The new settlement construction decision comes in implementation of the Cabinet’s decision two weeks ago, when it decided to build thousands of settlement units and legalize 9 outposts and turn them into existing settlements.
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Threatening to demolish a house in the Kafr Aqab town, damaging tires of 4 vehicles, and wrote racist slogans calling for the expulsion of the residents of the town in Beit Iksa.
- Demolishing a house in Wadi Jamal Community, east of Jerusalem, along with 3 water tanks and 2 barns.
Hebron:
- Attacking the “Al-Sunniyya Mosque” located in the Al-Sahla area, near the vegetable market in the old city of Hebron, with stones, which led to the smashing of its windows and the destruction of the outside yard. Moreover, attacking citizens’ homes in Al-Shuhada Street and Al-Shalala Street, caused the injury of the child, Omran Hamouda Jaber, who was admitted to the hospital.
Ramallah:
- Breaking down agricultural rooms, destroyed their contents, and stealing some of them in the Silwad town in the Al-Burj area.
Nablus:
- Chopping 25 olive and 18 almond seedlings in Al-Laban Al-Sharqiya town.
- Sexing a vehicle and 2 saws for cutting stone in the Orif village, and burned a bulldozer while paving a road in the village.
- Demolishing agricultural rooms, stone chains and a fence in the Qusra town.
- Assaulting a resident from Beit Dajan while passing through a checkpoint in Beit Furik, and smashing his vehicle.
Salfeet:
- Placing banners at the entrance to the “Banat Barr” area, west of Kafr Al-Deik in preparation for its confiscation. The area has been targeted by settlers for years, who encroached the citizens’ lands and prevented them from working on them.
Jordan Valley:
- Handing 20 notices to demolish houses and tourist villas in the Al-Dyouk Al-Tahta village under the pretext of not having a building permit, and threatening to demolish 5 residential facilities in the Aqaba village, east of Tubas, under the pretext of not having a permit.
- Preventing the Bedouin Arabs of Al-Malihat in Al-Ma’rajat from leaving their homes, at gunpoint.
