المكتب الوطني للدفاع عن الارض ومقاومة الاستيطان منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية
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By: Madeeha Araj
The National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements said in his weekly report that , the Israeli government continues legitimizing the illegal settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, using various judicial tricks under Article 5 of the State’s Property and the Military Order of 1967 in order to seize more lands. The Israeli Authorities have informed the Central Court in Jerusalem that they intends to legitimize the settlement buildings in Aley Zahav near Salfit depending on new judicial regulations applied for the first time on them, which means applying them on other parts of the occupied t,erritories, where about 2,000 illegal buildings were legitimized.
In 2016 settlers in “Aley Zahav” filed a lawsuit against construction company “Harry Zahav,” and the Ministry of War and the World Zionist Organization, claiming they purchased from the company illegal lands on which they built their homes, until the State announced last Dec. that it will try to legitimize the ownership of these lands through new regulations.
The court allowed the State to begin the process of legitimizing the land in accordance with the new systems and article 5 of 1967 regarding government property. The regulations are more stringent than the previous ones, which were called market regulations, and were applied when legitimizing the settlement Metsbeh Karamem outpost, where the central court approved it last year despite the fact that it was establishment on a land belonging to Palestinians. There is a difference between the case of Metsbeh Karamem and Aley Zahav, as the Israeli authorities intervened to establish the site in its present location and the court is considering using the new regulations in the “Mtsebeh Karimi’s file”. It is worth mentioning that the “market system” stipulates that any deal made in the West Bank with the consent of the Civil Administration is valid even if it is on private Palestinian land.
Within the context of the competition for votes as the early elections is drawing near, the head of the “Immunity Party to Israel,” Benny Gantz, said after touring the settlement bloc, “Gush Etzion,” bloc. “Gush Etzion” is a “strategic asset” to Israel, and all settlers deeds there are admirable.
In the field of settlement activity, settlers’ bulldozers under heavy guard from the Israeli occupation forces, continued extensive settling lands in the eastern area of Jalud village, south of Nablus, trying to implement a large settlement project on about 8 km2, which the Israeli army has declared it a military “closed areas” in order to legitimize the Iish Kish settlement by linking it with many nearby outposts.
The Israeli occupation authorities have also announced plans to build a new settlement on 600 dunums of land located between Kafr Thulth and Sanniriya, south and east of Qalqilia, and Bidaya and Karawat Bani Hassan lands, west of Salfit. “The Israeli Interior Ministry has decided to launch a new settlement city trough connecting 4 settlements, west of Salfit and south of Qalqila,” Arut 7 website has posted that the Israeli Ministry of the Interior has decided to launch a new settlement city. A member of the Likud Party, Galant also said that a settlement town will be built for the Haredim south of Qalqila and west of Salfit. The city will be near the Gush Dan settlement, and it will take five years to be ready. At the same time, the Israeli occupation authorities will extend a water and sanitation line for the settlement of Ariel, passing through the lands of Kafel Haris, Haris and villages west of Salfit.
In the Salfit governorate, the Israeli Higher Education Council also approved the establishment of a medical college at the Ariel University in the settlement of Ariel near Salfit. The decision came despite a vote by the Planning and Budgeting Committee, last week against its establishment. For her part, Minister of Education Naftali Bennett considered the decision as a great victory for the college, and considered the decision of the Higher Education Council as correct and support the medical system and the Israeli public.
On the other hand, Israeli sources confirmed that the ongoing building near the Al-Buraq Square, in the Al-Sharaf Neighborhood is a synagogue, and not an office for public services and facilities as declared by the Israeli occupation forces and the so-called Jerusalem Municipality. The building consists of 6 stories, 2 underground, the first will be for displaying the ancient ruins of an old synagogue including a bath for purity, the second will be dedicated to men’s baths and technical support buildings, the third will be a synagogue for women, the fourth floor will be a large hall of the synagogue and contains a booklet and halls for Jewish prayers and the Torah box, the fifth will be for meetings and the sixth will be a view overlooking the buildings of Old Jerusalem and its surroundings so that the last three floors linked With each other topped by a dome that completes the construction parallel to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. The building is part of several projects under construction in the Old City, and has an area of about 500 of the Al-Buraq Square.
A list of Israeli Occupation and Settlers’ Assaults over the Last Week, Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Forcing citizen to demolish his house in the Jabal al-Mukabber Neighborhood under the pretext of building without a permit, and in case if doesn’t do so, he will be forced to pay NIS 20,000 for demolishing fees. Another citizen was also forced to demolish his house in the town of Sur Baher under the pretext of building without a permit.
- Forcing the Abu-Assab family in the al-Qarami Neighborhood, Jerusalem to leave its house by next May 28, to the favor of extremist settlement associations.
- Huge basics of cement were erected at the Islamic Historic Yosofieh Cemetry near the Al-Aqsa Mosque till the lions Gate. Moreover, the Israeli bulldozers continues excavation and vandalism at the Islamic Historical Ma’man Allah to the west of Jerusalem, and exhumation of the remaining graves and destruction to obliterate the identity of the cemetery and the place for the benefit of Judaizing projects.
Ramallah:
- Attacking vehicles of civilians passing by the “Al-Anab” road near the villages of Ras Karkar and Deir Abzaih with stones, closing the road several times in front of Palestinians’ vehicles.
Hebron:
- Attacking a number of houses in the old town of Hebron during a march in which they chanted slogans calling for revenge against the Arabs. Attacks concentrated on Shohada Street, Tel Rumeida and Carantina, threatening to kill a Palestinian family if not leave its home.
- Expelling groups of the struggle for protection, documentation and monitoring from the Shuhada Street, blocking their works, and declaring the area as a closed military one.
- Bulldozing a road paved by the Anti-Settlement and the Wall Committee, and the Tuwani village in order to restrict the population from using it, thus, targeting their steadfastness in these areas, finally forcing them to leave to the favor of settlement.
- Storming the water pump networks in the Tawani village east of Yatta to prevent water access to the population, though threatening their existence.
- Attacking citizens’ vehicles and threatened them.
Bethlehem:
- Demolishing a 100m2 house belonging to Majdi al-Shweiki in the area of Ein al-Juweizah, in the Walajah village, inhabited by 5 people, another at Beir Auna in Beit Jala, and agricultural facility, under the pretext of not having permits.
- Attacking activists and citizens planting trees in their land in the Jabal Abu-Soda area west of Beit Fajar. A number of them suffocated due to firing tear gas canisters against them.
Salfit:
- Damaging tires of some vehicles, and writing racist slogans on walls and streets of the Iskaka village.
- Polluting the environment of the villages and towns of the Governorate through pouring sewage waste water.
Jordan Valley:
- Uprooting about 500 trees in the Bardala area, between 1 – 15 years old, and confiscated them claiming that they were planted in the State land.
- Attacking the shepherds, wounded Barakat Ali Daraghmeh, wrote racist statements on his body that included warns and threats to the Palestinian shepherds should the access the area again.
