Israel Orders Demolition of 37 Homes, Commercial Structures in Silwan
IMEMC | September 17, 2024
On Monday, Israeli soldiers and City Council personnel invaded Silwan town, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied capital, Jerusalem, in the West Bank, and handed out demolition orders for 37 homes and commercial structures.
Media sources reported that the soldiers notified the town’s citizens of the demolition orders, and added that the demolitions are part of the municipality’s plans to remove Palestinian buildings to pave a road, dubbed the “American Road,” and infrastructure for the illegal colonizers.
The number of demolitions in the Jerusalem Governorate from the first of September until the eighth has now reached 307.
The Israeli occupation authorities generally justify the demolition of homes on the pretext of building without permits, despite the rarity of granting the necessary permits for building homes for Jerusalemites.
The “American Road” project, constructed over the ruins of Palestinian homes, demolished residences, and confiscated lands, stretches about 12 kilometers, devouring everything in its path to facilitate the lives of illegal colonizers and create segregated roads between the colonies.
While Israel continues to build and expand its illegal colonies, Palestinian communities and towns in occupied Jerusalem and various areas in the occupied West Bank continue to be denied the right to build homes and property under various allegations meant to prevent the expansion of Palestinian towns and neighborhoods.
All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory.”
Illegal Israeli settlers attack Palestinian school in West Bank
Al Mayadeen | September 16, 2024
Illegal Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian school on Monday in the Mu’arrajat area, in the city of Ariha in the West Bank, a local activist stated.
The settlers assaulted students and teachers at the Arab al-Ka’abneh Primary School, wounding several people and besieging the premises, according to a statement issued by Hassan Mleihat, a member of the Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights.
Three people were injured during the attack and were being treated by medics, the Palestinian Red Cresent Society reported.
The Palestinian Education Ministry condemned the attack, accusing settlers and the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) of obstructing education and terrorizing Palestinian children.
The ministry said the attack was a “recurring violation that reveals the ugly face of the Israeli occupation and its disregard for children’s rights.”
702 Palestinians killed by IOF, settlers in West Bank since Oct. 7
702 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and settlers in the West Bank since October 7, the Palestinian Health Ministry revealed Wednesday.
The ministry’s statement highlighted that over 5,700 Palestinians have been wounded by the ongoing Israeli aggression in the occupied land, with 10,500 others detained over the last 11 months.
The death toll included at least eight Palestinians killed during Israeli airstrikes carried out on Wednesday in the city of Tabus, the nearby town of Tamun, and the West Bank’s northern city of Tulkarm.
Israeli forces restrict access to scene of Turkish-American activist’s killing
Press TV – September 13, 2024
The Israeli regime’s forces have restricted access to the murder scene of a Turkish-American activist, who was killed by the Israeli military last week while protesting the regime’s illegal settlement construction activities.
Reporting on Friday, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency said the forces had placed military checkpoints at intersections in the town of Beita, south of the city of Nablus, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.
Mahmoud Barham, head of the Beita Municipal Council, said the troops would prevent Palestinians from crossing the intersections to reach Mount Sabih, where the atrocity had taken place.
The activist, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, was killed last Friday while protesting alongside locals in Beita against the settlement of Evyatar.
An autopsy report confirmed that the 26-year-old had been killed by an Israeli sniper’s bullet to the head, Nablus Governor Ghassan Daghlas said on Saturday.
The Israeli military has alleged that Aysenur was killed during an effort by the forces to quell a “riot.”
Available footage of the protest as well as numerous witness accounts, however, contradict the claim.
The United Nations has called for an investigation of the crime.
“I can tell you that we would want to see a full investigation of the circumstances and that people should be held accountable,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a news conference following the activist’s death.
According to Wafa, Aysenur is one of 17 people who have been killed since the Evyatar settlement’s emergence in 2021.
Buffer zones, new Israeli means of seizing control of West Bank
By Fayha’ Shalash | Al Mayadeen | September 10, 2024
In mid-August, Alaa Srouji was surprised when the Israeli army handed him a notice to remove his greenhouses near Tulkarm.
The official reason was that he did not have a permit for them, but when the other farmers in the area received similar notices at the same time, concerns were raised. Many now suspect that “Israel” may be planning to establish a buffer zone in the Shweika Plain area.
Israeli media reported that settlers have been calling for the establishment of buffer zones, under the pretext of preventing armed infiltration of Israeli-occupied territory, similar to what happened on October 7.
However, Palestinian human rights and research centers have confirmed that these allegations cover dangerous goals: seizing additional Palestinian land to further settlement expansion.
Will be demolished at any moment
Srouji is a member of the Sun Roots Agricultural Cooperative Society, which plays a major role in helping farmers in Tulkarm in the face of Israeli policies.
But these efforts became subject to restrictions after the Israeli army handed them notices to demolish two greenhouses in the Shweika Plain under the pretext that they were not licensed.
“Although the greenhouses have been there for 14 years and provide livelihoods for many farmers and locals, Israel now intends to remove them,” he told Al Mayadeen English.
At the same time, six other farmers were told to disassemble their greenhouses or refrain from accessing their cultivated lands in the same area, all under the same pretext.
The association submitted an objection but didn’t receive any response. With the deadline for objections passing in early September, the greenhouses now face the imminent threat of demolition at any moment.
“When we submitted the objection, we learned that the reason for the notice was the proximity of the facilities to the Beit Hefer settlement, even though it is about 400 meters away,” he added.
Forbidden lands
The establishment of buffer zones in the West Bank is divided into two parts: one separates the Palestinians from the apartheid wall that “Israel” erected in 2002, encircling the Palestinian lands, while the other surrounds the settlements scattered throughout the West Bank.
Last November, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich emphasized “the necessity of establishing buffer zones around West Bank settlements to protect them from any attack,” according to the Jerusalem Post.
In February, the Israeli army issued a decision to seize 18 dunams of land from the village of Deir Dibwan, east of Ramallah, citing “urgent military purposes” as the justification.
However, the villagers soon discovered that the decision was actually aimed at establishing a buffer zone around the Mitzpe Dani settlement, which was built on their lands.
The mayor of Deir Dibwan, Imad Musbih, told Al Mayadeen English that the seizure of these lands expresses the actual implementation of the buffer zone concept proposed by Smotrich last year.
The landowners were taken aback by this decision and tried to file objections, but to no avail, according to him. The Israeli goal, he said, is clear and resolute, and Palestinians are not allowed to stand against it.
“No one has been able to access the seized lands. They cannot cultivate them, nor graze livestock on them, nor even approach them under any circumstances”, he added.
In conjunction with the decision, the intensity of attacks by settlers coming from this settlement increased. They began to cross the seized lands and reach the village where they burned Palestinians’ vehicles, slaughtered their livestock, or destroyed their property.
All of this was done in front of the Israeli army and without any intervention to stop them. Rather, the soldiers attacked the Palestinians with gas and sound bombs and arrested them in case they tried to repel settler attacks.
New old policy
The sequence of events in the West Bank indicates that this policy is not new, but rather dates back to around three years, coinciding with the arrival of the current extremist Israeli government.
Raed Mukadi, a researcher at the Land Research Center, told Al Mayadeen English that about a year ago, an Israeli military decision was issued before the start of the olive harvest season, declaring certain areas off-limits to Palestinians. These restricted areas are concentrated south of Nablus, near Salfit, and parts of Tulkarm.
At the same time, there was another military decision in the al-Jalama area, north of Jenin, to stop building and removing facilities around the apartheid wall under the pretext of security reasons.
“It is an Israeli plan aiming to evacuate Palestinian lands close to the apartheid wall and settlements,” he explained.
According to him, the most dangerous thing is that preventing access to these lands might be a prelude to expanding settlements, constructing roads, or establishing military camps and army headquarters under security pretexts. This would effectively block their agricultural use or construction, leading to significant losses for the Palestinians.
“After the aggression on Gaza, many areas were closed off, including large tracts of land in the West Bank. For instance, access was blocked to 18,000 dunams in the Ya’bad Plain south of Jenin, with these areas being completely shut off. It remains unclear whether this closure is temporary or permanent, which complicates the ability to determine the total area of land that has been converted into buffer zones,” he said.
Coinciding with the aggression against Gaza, the Israeli government announced a state of emergency, which means giving full authority to the Israeli army to act and make unfair military decisions, according to the prevailing conditions.
The IOF actually began to seize vast areas near the settlements, settlement streets, military towers, and the apartheid wall, all of which were issued by senior Israeli authorities under the pretext of preventing Palestinian attacks, as he said.
Israeli army kills US citizen during demonstration in Beita, Nablus
International Solidarity Movement | September 6, 2024
During the weekly demonstration in Beita, Palestine, on the morning of September 6th, 2024, the Israeli army shot and killed an International Solidarity Movement (ISM) volunteer. The demonstration, which primarily involved men and children praying, was met with force from the Israeli army stationed on a hill. Initially, the army fired a large amount of tear gas and then began using live ammunition. The volunteer, who we consider a martyr in the struggle, was the 18th demonstrator to be killed in Beita since 2020. She was an American citizen of Turkish descent.
The Israeli forces intentionally fired two live rounds. One hit a Palestinian man in the leg, injuring him. The other round was fired at international volunteers who were observing the demonstration, striking a human rights activist in the head. The volunteer died shortly after being transported to a local hospital in Nablus.
Fellow ISM volunteer Mariam Dag (a pseudonymn) was on the scene, and witnessed the fatal injury of her comrade. She said:
“We were peacefully demonstrating alongside Palestinians against the colonisation of their land, and the illegal settlement of Evyatar. The situation escalated when the Israeli army began to fire tear gas and live ammunition, forcing us to retreat. We were standing on the road, about 200 meters from the soldiers, with a sniper clearly visible on the roof. Our fellow volunteer was standing a bit further back, near an olive tree with some other activists. Despite this, the army intentionally shot her in the head.
This is just another example of the decades of impunity granted to the Israeli government and army, bolstered by the support of the US and European governments, who are complicit in enabling genocide in Gaza. Palestinians have suffered far too long under the weight of colonization. We will continue to stand in solidarity and honor the martyrs until Palestine is free.”
E.N, who is a friend of the slain activist and fellow volunteer with the ISM said:
“I don’t know how to say this. There’s no easy way. I wish I could [say] something eloquent, but I can’t through my sobbing tears…. my friend, comrade and travel partner to Palestine, was just shot in the head and murdered by the Israeli Occupation Forces. May she rest in power. She is now one of many martyrs in this struggle.”
Beita, is a village in the West Bank where just weeks ago Amado Sison, another American volunteer, was struck by live ammunition in the back of the leg. Beita has a long history of resistance against Israeli occupation and has been a focal point of violence directed towards Palestinian residents by Israeli forces. Located near several illegal Israeli settlements, the village holds regular demonstrations. Due to escalating aggression by the Israeli forces, residents are currently refraining from marching or chanting, instead gathering together on the land and praying.
In recent years, Beita has seen ongoing demonstrations, particularly against the construction of new illegal Israeli outposts on the lands of the village. For example Evyatar outpost, on Sabih Mountain, has been established on Palestinian land. In June, the Israeli security cabinet approved the ‘legalization’ of Evyatar, causing the people of Beita to strengthen their popular resistance.
Residents of Beita recently restarted weekly Friday demonstrations to resist the further theft of their land. While protests had nearly ceased since October 7th 2023, due to escalating violence from Israeli occupation forces, there was a renewed push on July 5th 2024, when dozens of Palestinians, accompanied by international and Israeli activists, marched from the adjacent mountain, through the valley, and towards the outpost.
In recent months, international activists have experienced a sharp increase in violence from Israeli forces and the occupation must be held accountable for this. The woman martyred today was an activist with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led organization that provides protective presence and solidarity in the West Bank. The ISM was founded in 2002, and has maintained a steady presence in Palestine ever since, supporting the Palestinian popular struggle against the occupation.
Our comrade is added to the 17 Palestinian protesters already slain in Beita:
Palestinians martyred at demonstrations in Beita:
– Mohammed Hamayyel, 15 (March 11, 2020)
– Islam Dwikat, 22 (April 9, 2020)
– Karam Amin Dwikat, 17 (October 15, 2023)
– Issa Sliman Barham, 40 (May 14, 2021)
– Tareq Ommar Snobar, 27 (May 16, 2021)
– Zakaria Maher Hamayyel, 25 (May 28, 2021)
– Mohammed Said Hamayyel, 15 (June 11, 2021)
– Ahmad Zahi Bani Shamsa, 15 (June 16, 2021)
– Shadi Ommar Sharafa, 41 (July 27, 2021)
– Imad Ali Dwikat, 38 (August 6, 2021)
– Mohammed Ali Khbeissa, 27 (September 24, 2021)
– Jamil Jamal Abu Ayyash, 32 (December 1, 2021)
– Fawaz Ahmad Hamayyel, 47 (April 13, 2022)
– Immad Jareh Bani Shamsa, 16 (October 9, 2023)
– Mohammed Ibrahim Adili, 13 (November 23, 2023)
– Maath Ashraf Bani Shamsa, 17 (February 9, 2024)
– Ameed Ghaleb Said al-Jaroub, 34 (March 22, 2024, died of a bullet wound injury to the head sustained on August 21, 2023)
At this time, the family is not granting any interviews. Please contact ISM for media requests.
What options has the Israeli occupation left for the Palestinians?
By Suhail Kewan | MEMO | September 4, 2024
What has happened in the Gaza Strip could easily happen in the West Bank, in terms of the destruction of its refugee camps and cities, collective punishments and huge numbers of Palestinians killed and wounded. All the signs are that the occupation state is ready and willing to do this. It will, to a large extent, be up to the Palestinians to decide if and how to challenge this.
What is happening in the West Bank at the moment is that Israel is forcing people to defend themselves and is leaving them with only two options: complete and unconditional surrender to the extremist settlers; or defending themselves and their property. Both options are very costly, and the occupation state has not left a middle option.
The confiscation of Palestinian land in the West Bank started decades ago and is ongoing. More than 1,200 land confiscation orders have been issued since 1969 under various pretexts, including classifying land as military zones, national parks and areas of public interest. The act of confiscation is accompanied by harassment of the owners and shooting at them, whether at checkpoints or elsewhere such as on their farms and even in their homes. Crops and livestock are also targeted, and more restrictions are imposed on their movement, making Palestinian villages and cities large prisons, with people scared of moving between them.
The permanent and “flying” checkpoints mean that Palestinians are forced to stand for ages in lines that are hundreds of metres long, or even a kilometre or so. Anyone who visits the West Bank gets the sense that they are in a large prison, exposed to danger and humiliation all the time. If someone goes half a metre beyond the red line at the checkpoint, they may be killed; this has happened on many occasions.
Ready-made justifications are always available: they tried to run over or stab soldiers, so they were shot.
The West Bank was not calm before October 2023; it’s wrong to suggest otherwise. Hundreds of settlements and outposts have been established and expanded, housing half a million settlers, with occupied Jerusalem housing around 220,000. All of Israel’s settlements and settlers are illegal under international law, which is treated with contempt by the apartheid state.
Palestinians are humiliated on a daily basis, even if they have permits to work in Israel. Those without permits risk their lives to sneak into the occupation state in the search for a job to earn a living. There are videos available showing Palestinians being fired on after they were arrested, or facing savage guard dogs.
More than 40 per cent of the West Bank area has become under the direct control of the settlements. Separate roads have been built for use by settlers only, taking yet more Palestinian land to make travel as easy as possible for them. Palestinian towns and villages, meanwhile, are basically open prisons, and travel is made as difficult as possible, even within built-up areas.
Palestinians risk their lives just by going to work in their fields, as they may be confronted and attacked by settlers. While Israeli soldiers look on — and protect the settlers if necessary — the Palestinians are beaten and harassed, and crops and livestock are destroyed and stolen.
With the stroke of a pen, Israel can declare Palestinian land to be “state land” and thus out of bounds for Palestinians. Displacements are common as homes and farms are torn down by the occupiers. Since the beginning of this year alone, Israel has confiscated almost 30 square kilometres of West Bank land, and even more if the Jordan Valley is taken into account. Ministers in this far-right government have called for the establishment of a new settlement for every country that recognises the state of Palestine.
Israel and its settlers control water sources and sell water to municipalities and villages in the West Bank at prices determined by the national water company, which can cut off supplies at any moment. We have seen what has happened in the Gaza Strip when this was done. Moreover, most of the electricity supplies come directly or indirectly by the Israel Electricity Company. Sewage from the settlements is usually channelled through Palestinian land and towns. Pollution is a major environmental problem, as are the landfills used by the settlers.
All of this is happening in full view of the world and with the support of the West, especially the US. The Palestinian Authority is a public relations exercise on a large scale. Agreements signed with the PA are ignored.
Only the Palestinians are expected to make concessions; Israel never is, and never does.
The situation of the Palestinians before October 2023 was not good, and not a single Palestinian could claim that they were free in their homeland, neither in the West Bank areas, including the Ramallah “bubble”, nor in the Gaza Strip, nor as citizens of the occupation state within the Green Line.
Israeli governments have achieved what they aspired to, especially in the past two decades, which is to make the two-state solution impossible. This has become a reality. The so-called “peace process” is dead and buried.
No Israeli leader is going to evacuate three-quarters of a million settlers from the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem. No Israeli leader is going to share Jerusalem with the Palestinians as the capital of two independent states. No Israeli leader will restore Palestinian control over any part of their land and allow them to expand their urban areas naturally.
The possibility of a two-state solution no longer exists, even if the whole world supports it in theory. Israeli officials from the prime minister down have declared that the land “from the river to the sea” belongs to Israel, and only Israel.
Every illegal Israeli settlement is a war crime, to which can now be added the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip, and the decades-long siege and repression that preceded 7 October. Palestinians have been left with no option but to accept colonial occupation and oppression, or to resist. Legitimate resistance to the occupation of the land is not the cause of the unrest in occupied Palestine. Cause and effect are very easy to determine. Resistance didn’t start the issue; it is a response to the occupation; a legitimate response.
The people in the West and in Israel itself need to understand and accept this, and then act accordingly. If they don’t, then the responsibility for the bloodshed and insecurity across the region lies with Israel and its supporters, especially the US, not with the Palestinians in occupied Palestine and in the diaspora.
This article first appeared in Arab48 on 2 September 2024
Zanuta: A Story of Return
International Solidarity Movement | August 26, 2024
Masafer Yatta – On Wednesday, August 21, following a long overdue court order, the families of Zanuta, in Masafer Yatta, returned to their village for the first time in 10 months after being forcibly displaced, determined to rebuild their home from the rubble of their village that remained.
Families returning to Zanuta
At the end of October 2023, the residents of Zanuta were told by settlers that if they didn’t leave in 24 hours, they would kill every last one of them. All of the residents of Zanuta – who had already been enduring unending violence from these settlers, from making it impossible to shepherd, to property damage, to physical attacks, to home invasions and assault – were forcibly displaced from their land and homes.
On Wednesday, the families and flocks returned to their land. Palestinians triumphantly drove their flocks over their land and camped out in the ruins of their homes and propped up the destroyed roof of the school using pieces of scrap metal.
After families left Zanuta in October, settlers came into the village and removed the roofs of the buildings. It was winter, so this meant it was impossible for the families to return. In November, they briefly went back to try to work their land. When they tried to rebuild the roofs, they were stopped by army who said that it was unauthorised building.
Later on settlers returned to destroy everything. The homes and school had their walls and contents destroyed. Trees were cut down and solar panels destroyed. While they would not allow Palestinians to return and tend to their lands, the settlers ploughed the land themselves. Plowing Palestinian land while making it impossible to return to is a legal tactic used by settlers to increase their “claim” to the land under Israeli law.
A supreme court order issued a few weeks ago says that villagers can return to Zanuta (and the smaller village opposite Zanuta). The order also defines Zanuta as a firing zone, meaning that no new building is authorized. With this court order, the Israeli army are required to support the safe return of the villagers, however army and police only made perfunctory visits.
Zanuta is close to Havant Meitarim (“Strings farm”) outpost, whose settlers Yinon Levi and Ilay Federman (son of renowned right wing Kahanist terrorist Noam Federman) were amongst those sanctioned by the US.
If you know anything about 48, you know that supposed court orders hold little to no meaning in ensuring the safety of the Zanuta residents as they come home. They are still legally unable to transform Zanuta into home again due to “unauthorized building” restrictions.
If you know anything about the people of Palestine, you know that sumud will carry on regardless.
Four Palestinian women, one child injured in settler attack in West Bank
Palestinian Information Center – August 10, 2024
NABLUS – Four Palestinian women and one child were injured on Friday evening when a horde of extremist Jewish settlers attacked them near Nablus City in the occupied West Bank.
According to the Hebrew media, settlers showered a car carrying four women and a two-year-old girl child with stones and injured them after they mistakenly entered an area near an illegal settlement outpost in the south of Nablus.
The child and women suffered different injuries in the settler attack and were transferred to a hospital after they fled the area on foot.
According to Israel’s Kan news agency, the five victims are residents of the Arab town of Rahat in southern Israel and were on their way to the Palestinian City of Nablus.
Nufah, one of the women who were attacked, told journalists that their navigation application had led them astray.
“We accidentally went into some place and then settlers started running after the car, throwing rocks,” she said. “After they broke all the windows they sprayed tear gas.”
She said one of the attackers put his gun to the infant’s head and ordered them to get out of the car before they escaped the area.
The incident occurred at Givat Ronen, a small hilltop outpost in the northern West Bank near the village of Burin
Palestinians and international human rights observers arrested in Masafer Yatta, occupied West Bank
International Solidarity Movement | July 7, 2024
Israeli Occupation forces arrested three Palestinians, including a 14 year old child, together with three internationals (including a US citizen) and one Israeli human rights observer in at-Tuwani, Masafer Yatta, in the South Hebron Hills area.
This morning, armed Israeli settler shepherds invaded Palestinian land with their flocks, provoked the family that was working on their land and attempted to steal one of their donkeys. The Palestinians tried to prevent them from going on their land and were attacked by the settlers. They called the police to remove the settlers, but the army and police chose to arrest three Palestinians, one of whom is a 14 year old child, three international and one Israeli human rights observers. No settlers were detained. They have all been taken to an Israeli police station. As of 5.45 pm (Jerusalem time), the family has been released but the human rights observers remain under custody.
The family, including the child, was already detained for around 3 hours on their land a couple of weeks ago and they have suffered numerous attacks over the years from violent settlers and the army. A couple of weeks ago, settlers cut newly planted trees and destroyed the water connections.
Land theft and ethnic cleansing have spiralled since October 7 in Masafer Yatta, and in other areas of the occupied West Bank. Israeli settlers who live in illegal settlements have been heavily armed and have escalated harassment and threats towards Palestinian communities, with the backing of the Israeli occupation forces. Umm al-Khair, one of the villages in Masafer Yatta, has lately come under almost daily attack from settlers and the army. On June 26, occupation forces demolished a dozen structures in Umm al-Khair displacing dozens of residents, including children. Since then, settlers have raided the village, shot live ammunition, erected a tent in the village and destroyed the water system, leaving the whole community of Umm al Khair without access to water.
On July 4, settlers carried out a pogrom in the village of Khalet a Dabaa. About 200 settlers reached the village at midnight, set agricultural land and trees on fire and attacked villagers, shot live ammunition and kidnapped a villager. An Italian activist from the NGO Mediterranea was also badly beaten. There are daily incidents in Masafer Yatta, with settlers coming on what remains of Palestinian land to herd in order to harass and push Palestinians further away from their land.
These are not isolated incidents. They are a part of a bigger plan of annexation of the West Bank/Area C. Between October 7 and July 1, over 1,050 attacks from settlers on Palestinians have been recorded by OCHA. At the beginning of March, Israeli authorities approved the construction of almost 3,500 illegal housing units in settlements around the West Bank. More recently, almost 5,295 new illegal housing units have been approved. This all comes amidst the biggest land seizure in the West Bank in over 30 years. Far-right Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has vowed to bring a million more settlers under his expansion plan.
In a quiet move, about a month ago, more control was moved from the Israeli army’s civil administration to the recently established governmental body “Settlement Administration”, led by Smotrich. Last Thursday, Orit Strock, Minister of Settlements and National Missions, was reported praising a master plan to build over 100 housing units in the South Hebron Hills area, saying this was “a miracle time” and “a sacred mission,” highlighting her efforts to invest in the area.
All of this is happening while the Israeli authorities are repressing human rights solidarity in the area, with at least six more international and three Israeli human rights observers banned from the area in the previous few weeks, with the aim of isolating Palestinian communities and promoting their propaganda unchecked.
Israel approves largest seizure of West Bank lands in 3 decades
MEMO | July 3, 2024
The Israeli army seized a large area of Palestinian land south of Nablus in the northern West Bank, according to a Palestinian government agency on Wednesday, Anadolu Agency reports.
“The Occupation authorities decided to seize a total of 12,715 dunams (3,141 acres) of land belonging to citizens in the village of Aqraba, south-east of Nablus,” the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission said in a statement.
The Commission said Israel designated the seized territory as “state land” to “convert citizens’ lands into an expanding settlement project”.
The decision was “part of a larger plan to control the eastern slopes of the West Bank, particularly those adjacent to the Jordan Valley and its outskirts by seizing vast areas in this region,” the statement said.
Since the beginning of 2024, Israeli authorities have issued four announcements converting private Palestinian lands into state lands, thereby prohibiting Palestinian citizens from accessing, cultivating or reclaiming them, the Commission noted.
The statement indicated that the area declared as “state land” in these announcements totals 24,000 dunams (5,930 acres).
According to the Commission, the total area of land seized under various designations since the start of 2024 has reached 39,000 dunams (9,637 acres).
On Tuesday, the Commission’s semi-annual report highlighted the establishment of 17 new Jewish-only settlement outposts, while the Israeli government granted legal status to 11 other outposts.
Settlement outposts are small communities established by illegal Israeli settlers on privately owned Palestinian land without approval from the Israeli government.
Estimates indicate that around 700,000 Israeli settlers live in roughly 300 illegal settlements in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
All Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories are considered illegal under international law.
Saudi Arabia warns of ‘dire consequences’ of Israel’s new settlement plans in West Bank
Press TV – June 29, 2024
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry has warned of the “dire consequences” of Israel’s plan to expand illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank.
In a statement on Saturday, the ministry slammed the Israeli regime’s decision to legitimize five new outposts in the West Bank.
Saudi Arabia opposes the “ongoing Israeli violations of international law and international legitimacy resolutions,” it added.
“These violations undermine opportunities for peace and contribute to fueling conflicts and destabilizing regional and international security and stability,” the statement read.
On Thursday, Israel’s extremist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that the Security Cabinet authorized one outpost for every country that unilaterally recognized Palestine as a state in the last month.
Last month, Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognized the Palestinian state, joining over 140 UN member states that have recognized its statehood over the past four decades.
Slovenia and Malta have also indicated they plan to formally recognize the state of Palestine.
The five settlement outposts are Evyatar, Givat Assaf, Sde Efraim, Heletz, and Adorayim.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation in a statement on Saturday condemned Israel’s new settlement expansion plan in the West Bank.
It said all actions and decisions taken by Israel as the occupying power to perpetuate its colonial regime in the occupied Palestinian territory are null and void under international law and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, especially UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016).
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- Gazan Christians mark 3rd Christmas under genocide – Not a Ceasefire Day 75
- Israeli scams children with cancer out of millions fundraised for their treatment, BBC finds
- Casey Kennedy Fired from AG Scientific Amid Zionist Troll Campaign Over Track AIPAC Work
- The Hasmoneans: The Jewish Dynasty That Gave Us Hanukkah Is a Symbol of Murder, Not Heroism and Hope
- Int’l NGOs may be blocked from Gaza starting Jan. 1 – Not a Ceasefire Day 74
- From Churches to ChatGPT: Israeli Contracts Worth Millions Aim to Influence U.S. Public Opinion
- Who is the Pro-Israel Clique behind TikTok’s US Takeover?
- Medical Crisis in UK Prisons – 800 Doctors Warn of ‘Imminent Deaths’ Among Palestine Action Strikers
- No Tricks Zone
- Meteorologist Dr. Ryan Maue Warns “Germany Won’t Make It” If Winter Turns Severe
- Merry Christmas Everybody!
- Two More New Studies Show The Southern Ocean And Antarctica Were Warmer In The 1970s
- Der Spiegel Caught Making Up Reports About Conservative America (Again)
- New Study: 8000 Years Ago Relative Sea Level Was 30 Meters Higher Than Today Across East Antarctica
- The Wind Energy Paradox: “Why More Wind Turbines Don’t Always Mean More Power”
- New Study Reopens Questions About Our Ability To Meaningfully Assess Global Mean Temperature
- Dialing Back The Panic: German Physics Prof Sees No Evidence Of Climate Tipping Points!
- Astrophysicist Dr. Willie Soon Challenges The Climate Consensus … It’s The Sun, Not CO2
- Regional Cooling Since The 1980s Has Driven Glacier Advance In The Karakoram Mountains
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