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 latest weekly report , that within its gradual seizure of the Palestinian land, especially, in areas C, the Israeli government agreed to expand construction work, and to provide facilities for investment in settlements in the occupied West Bank, as the Israeli Ministry of Tourism asked investors to apply for support equal to 20% of the value of their investments, besides gifts to build public hotels by 13%. Those grants are a step to legitimize settlements and impose Israeli control on the Palestinian territory, said Israeli Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin.
At the same time, settlement activities continue in the territories supported by the American Administration, where the so-called “Licensing Committee at the Israeli Civil Administration” approved the construction of 2 bypass roads that occupy hundreds of acres of agricultural land. The first is in the northern West Bank, seized 406 dunums belonging to seven villages: Burin, Hawara, Beita, Awarta, Yitma, Sawya, and Yasuf, south of Nablus, under order no. 19/2/H, including the construction of bridges and several junctions in the area, while the other will be near the Arob Refugee Camp north of Hebron, where the army issued a military order number 19/1/H to confiscate an area of 401 dunums in order to link the settlement blocks with the Israeli depth. This will lead to the transformation of the Palestinian areas into separate parts and cantons, thereby undermining any chance of establishing a Palestinian State.
In an unprecedented challenge to the international community, the Israeli occupation authorities The occupation authorities are intensifying the mass destruction and demolition of dozens of Palestinian homes in Silwan in Wadi Yasol, where 500 citizens living in more than 80 homes threatened with demolition in there. The municipality of the occupation in Jerusalem has implemented a campaign of demolition of 25 houses in the towns of Jabal al-Mukaber under the pretext of building “without a license.”
B’Tselem’s director of field research, Karim Jubran, revealed that the % of demolitions of houses in occupied Jerusalem increased to 56% compared to last year. Adding mMore than 13 settlements have been built inside Jerusalem since 1967.
The policy of demolishing Palestinian homes has caused widespread international reactions. The UNs’ Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Jimmy McGoldrick, called for an immediate halt to the destruction of Palestinian property in Jerusalem by the Israeli occupation authorities. “Demolitions in East Jerusalem have increased at a phenomenal rate over the past month, displacing dozens of Palestinians and destroying their properties must be stopped.” “As of April 30th, 2019, 111 Palestinian homes were demolished by Israeli bulldozers in East Jerusalem under the pretext of not having building permits. Some 57% of the buildings of the 111 were demolished during April. Some other houses were demolished later on bringing the number to 214 in the West Bank in 2019.
Within the context, the Israeli High Court of Justice approved a decision by the Israeli security minister to carry out the demolition orders in Area C within 96 hours of the date of issue, though preventing Palestinian development and encourage the theft of Palestinian land. Civil Administration data showed that between the beginning of 2000 and the middle of 2016, the Palestinians submitted to the planning offices 5,475 applications for building permits, of which 226 were approved, i.e. 4%. The areas C extended on 60% of the territory of the West Bank, and according to human rights organizations the Palestinian who are living in thse areas are estimate at some 300,000 people.
A list of Settlers’ Assaults over the Last Week, Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Carrying out bulldozing campaign in the towns of Silwan, Sur Bahir and Jabal al-Mukaber, 25 residential were destroyed under the pretext of building without a permit, and a number of citizens were injured.
- Forcing the residents of the Shu’fat camp to demolish a vocational training center and a hall in the committee’s headquarters under the same pretext.
Ramallah:
- Injuring 3 Palestinians from the town of Bil’in, They were attacked by settlers while they were working on the area of Ras al-Karsar village. They threw stones at them and beat them, causing them bruises and injuries.
- Confiscating a land in the Jabal-Risan, between Ras Karkar, Kafr Naama in order to connect many of the settlements to each other, and to separate villages of Ramallah from each others.
- Uprooting more than 150 olive trees in the village of Burqa, east of Ramallah, under the protection of the Israeli occupation army.
Nablus:
- Puncturing tires of 3 vehicles and wrote racist slogans in Huwara, south of Nablus, as part of their continuous attacks, known as “pay the price war” which is being carried out under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces.
- Attacking the village of Urif south of Nablus. Mazen Shehadeh, Mayuor of the village council of Auref, said dozens of settlers attacked the village under protection from Israeli occupation forces, fired dozens of tear gas canisters and destroyed the water line of the village of Froush Beit Dajan east of Nablus.
Salfit:
- Invading the town of Kafel Haris north of Salfit and carried out Talmudic rituals there. The settlers continued to raze the settlement of Brukhin, Salfit north of the occupied West Bank.
- Bulldozing land and infrastructure for further settlement construction at the expense of the lands of the towns of Bruqin, Bidya and Sartah west of Salfit. Settlement expansion has not stopped in all the villages and towns of Salfit. Twenty-five settlements are draining the lands of 18 communities in the Salfit governorate around the clock, where a park and institutions are being built.
Jordan Valley:
- Preventing farmers from watering their cattle in an attempt to expel the citizens from their land in the Ein Saqot area,
- Preventing the opening of a 3-km new road to Yerza area to be linked with the village of Aqaba. Residents are subjected to constant displacement due to military exercises.
