By : Madeeha Araj,
Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders are racing to take measures on the ground to consecrate the occupation and Judaize the Palestinian land by settling and launching more calls to annex and impose Israeli occupation law on the occupied West Bank. In a new development aimed at accelerating the steps of Judaization in Jerusalem and changing its demographic structure.
The so-called Israeli Council for Planning and Building approved a new settlement scheme to build 4500 settlement units south of occupied Jerusalem, named “Rex Lafan” or the “white hills,” parts of which are located on the lands of the Walaja village. According to the scheme, 600 donums will be allocated for the construction of settlement units and another 1,000 dunums to be annexed to the so-called club of “Rafa’im Valley “, located to the south of the hill, where the Israeli authorities claim that construction in this area is necessary due to the lack of land in the occupied Jerusalem.
The Israeli Planning and Building Committee is about to approve the building of 176 housing units for Jews at the Jabal al-Mukaber neighborhood, East Jerusalem. Moreover, talks to expand the Naveh Zion settlement that was erected 6 years ago, which currently houses 91 homes, and in case the expansion took place it will become the large settlement built in the Palestinian neighborhoods in the city. Knowing that, the largest Jewish settlement in Jerusalem till now is Ma’ale Hazeitim, where 200 Jewish families live.
In a move to annex large areas of land in the West Bank to Israel, and attempting to avoid international law, international pressure, and UN Security Council Resolution 242, and establishing what is known as the “Greater Jerusalem,” which means the two-state solution is over. Minister, Yisrael Katz and MK Yosef Kish of the Likud Party proposed a law for the Knesset to reduce the number of Arabs and increase the number of Jewish settlers in Jerusalem through annexing 5 settlements built in the occupied West Bank, such as, Ma’aleh Adumim, Givat Ze’ev, Gush Etzion, Efrat, And “Betar Illit to be under the control of the Israeli Municipality in the occupied Jerusalem.
At the same time, the Israeli government decided to allocate a budget of NIS 60,000,000 out of the NIS 130,000,000 allocated for the construction of the “Amihai settlement” to house the evacuated settlers of Amona. The budget will be transferred to the Benjamin Regional Council, which will be used to resume construction in the settlement.
The Israeli government also approved large budgets for infrastructure development in the occupied West Bank settlements. Netanyahu told his Likud party ministers that he would include the bypass roads separating the settlements in the West Bank from the Palestinian towns following their objection as the government’s National Infrastructure Plan addresses only 1% of the roads surrounding the settlements.
On the other hand, the so-called Ministry of Justice has register the ownership of 876 donums of agricultural land in the “Habaila area” south of Bethlehem to the sAssiona Company despite the existence of a dispute between the Palestinian side and the occupation long ago, thus preparing them officially for a taboo.
For its part, The National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements condemned the resolution of the Israeli courts to confiscate 876 donums of land belonging to Palestinian citizens in Bethlehem. Adding that “the justice and courts system in Israel is an integral part of the whole occupation regime, considering them as violators of international law and the Geneva Conventions. Thus, falsifying the ownership of land and the historical facts based on Israeli force and its greediness.
The National Bureau also denounced the Israeli occupation forces crime of expelling the Shamasna family from their home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem, and the building of a new outpost in the Silwan town, besides, the establishment of an outpost on the Jalud village’s land near Nablus. The Bureau considered the MK Betzalel Smutritch of the Jewish House Party’s statements as clear incitement to attack the Palestinians and their properties. Moreover, Smutrich spoke to the Hebrew media on a proposal to establish a government mechanism to provide huge compensation to motivate Arabs to emigrate from the Judea and Samaria. The proposal includes dismantling the Palestinian Authority, imposing the Israeli law on Judea and Samaria, increasing the settlement and doubling the Jewish population there, which means “the elimination of any hope for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The National Bureau also considered the statement of the American ambassador who described the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian land as (claimed occupation) and a blatant departure from the rules of diplomatic conduct and international law and open attempts to cover the daily violations against the Palestinian people, as well as an encouragement to the occupation to continue its war on their presence, and to continue its violation of the international law and resolutions and the international legitimacy.
A list of the Assaults Documented by The National Bureau Perpetrated by Israeli Occupation and Settlers over the last week:
Jerusalem:
- Expelling the Shamasna family by force from their house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
- Issuing 6 eviction orders for Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, Thus, raising the number of families threatened with expulsion to 45 families.
- Revealing an Israeli plan to settle 400 Jewish families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
Hebron:
- Attacking a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance that was treating a child in a critical condition at Al-Shuhada Street.
- Attacking houses in the Khirbet Umm-Khair,
- Storming the Jala area west of the town of Beit Ummar north of the city, and breaking into an Islamic shrine and performed Talmudic rituals.
Bethlehem:
- Running over a 30-year-old Palestinian villager in Husan village, west of Bethlehem, the man was seriously wounded and admitted to the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem.
- Expansion works at a military tower near the main entrance of the Khader town, between Hebron and Bethlehem, and building cement walls in the area.
Nablus:
- Confiscating a 30 donums to build a new settlement outpost near the Jaloud village, they prevented the farmers from harvesting their crops there.
- Fixing a caravan, a large tent, and paved a road around it.
- Informing the destruction of the water pipe-line that extends to the Douma village, south of Nablus.
- Assaulting 16-year-old, Osama Jamil Daghlas, who was severely beaten by settlers near the Homesh settlement. They forced him to take off his clothes.
- Uprooting 43 olive trees from the Sawiyya village, belonging to Jom’a Moh’d Khair-Allah.
Qalqilya:
- Handing over demolition orders to a number of citizens’ homes in the Jeit village. People there said that the demolition orders were prompted by settlers, who are planning to expand the settlements on the expense of their lands.
Jordan Valley:
- Demonstration against the Israeli occupation decision to cut off water from the Ain-Baida village near Tubas governorate. Council member of the village, Fares Foqha said that the occupation initiated the policy of reducing the amount of water reaching to the 1700 people there, who depend on water to irrigate their farms. The occupation reduced the amount of water from 240 to 30 cups per hour.
- Military training near the tents of the citizens in the Hammam-Maleh area to the north of the Jordan Valley, causing fear to the children and women.