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 stated in its latest weekly report , that Israeli Government still ignores the International Community’s stance and International Legitimacy’s resolutions, which consider settlement a war crime, and acts as a state above the law as a result of the American support, which considered settlement in the occupied West Bank as legitimate, and does not contradict with international law, and that the United States will firmly oppose the opening of the International Criminal Court an investigation into war crimes committed by Israel in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967. Within the context, Netanyahu stated that he would achieve more historical accomplishments in the coming years if he wins the upcoming elections. He put forward a plan of 6-point that includes setting final borders for the occupying State, pushing the United States to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea, exerting pressure on the United States to recognize Israeli sovereignty over all settlements in the West Bank without exception. It was noted that the joint Israeli ministerial team will meet early next week to discuss the annexation of the abovementioned areas.
The American administration’s stance encouraged the Israeli Government and Settlement Societies to escalate settlement in the West Bank, including Jerusalem. The pace of settlement expansion in the year 2019 increased by 70% than 2018. The number of settlement units that the occupation government and settlers submitted for approval during the past year amounted to about 10,000 settlement units, compared to 6800 during the last two years, at a time when the occupation authorities demolished some 617 buildings in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, during the year 2019, which led to the displacement of 898 Palestinian families.
On the other hand, the Israeli Civil Administration intends to approve the construction of 2000 housing units at settlements in the occupied West Bank, where the Israeli High Council for Planning announced that the approval of the structural map of the Harash settlement, 258 housing units that were illegally constructed in an Talmon settlement, 147 housing units in the Mitzpe settlement in the Jordan Valley, 100 housing units in the Neve Tzof settlement, 72 housing units in the Ariel settlement in Salfit Governorate, and 107 units in the settlement Elon Moreh will be soon approved.
Qalqilya, the Israeli occupation forces bulldozed lands in Izbat Wadi al-Basha, south of the city, to open a settlement road that serves the Alf Manashe settlement, which has been built on the Palestinian lands since 1981, and that it is expanded annually at the expense of them. Furthermore, the so-called “Civil Administration” announced the confiscation of 165 dunums from Qalqilya lands in favor of the abovementioned bypass road and the “El-Yahoo” checkpoint.
Jerusalem, Israeli settlement Societies have established a biblical museum of three floors with an area of 1390m2 in the Al-Ein Al-Fawqa area of Silwan, meters away from the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the southern side, with the aim of promoting the alleged Jewish history version in the city at the expense of the true historical Arab Islamic and Christian version.
To further challenge the feelings of the Palestinian people in Hebron, Minister of the Israeli Occupation Army, Naftali Bennett, stormed the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque in conjunction with the so-called “Hanukkah Jewish festival’s lightings, accompanied by the Commander of the Southern Region of the Israeli army, Itamar Bin Haiem”, head of the “Kiryat Arba settlement bloc,” Eliyahu Liebman, and the head of the Religious School, Hanniel Atruj. During the storming, Bennett said that he can’t think of a better place than Hebron to light the last Hanukkah Candle.
In a dangerous development, the occupation municipality in Jerusalem approved the establishment of educational institutions affiliated to the Israeli occupation instead of the UNRWA’s schools in Jerusalem. The occupation municipality started this strong step supported by the Israeli government and the American administration against UNRWA to prevent its activities and presence there by the beginning of 2020, arguing that it prolongs the issue of the Palestinian Rrefugees.
A list of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week, Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Demolishing a house of two apartments each of which has an area of 100m2 in Silwan, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, belonging to Yazid Khalaileh, and his brother Mohannad, under the pretext of being built without a permit.
- Seizing 5 residential houses and a 7-kilometer plastic water line at the Al-Mantar area near Jerusalem desert extending from the Al-Sawahrah land to the Al-Maleh area in the Dead Sea belonging to the citizens, Moh’d Omar Abdul-Qadir and Zaki Khalil Abdul-Qadir Ja’far.
Hebron:
- Storming the Samo’ town, erected military checkpoints at the junctions, and prevented the citizens from moving to secure the settlers’ entry to an ancient site there.
- Seizing a mobile clinic affiliated to the Health Directorate, South Hebron, while she was going to perform her work in Masafer Yata. It is noteworthy that the mobile clinic provides medical services to the marginalized and remote areas of Masafer Yata, besides the Bedouins living in the Hebron’s outskirts.
Bethlehem:
- Storming the Suleiman tourist pools, located between the Al-Khader and Artas villages, south of Bethlehem, under the protection of the occupation forces, and performed Talmudic rituals.
- Uprooting old olive trees in the Al-Jabaa village, south of Bethlehem at the Farawana area belonging to citizens, Ezzat Abdullah Hasan and Ahmed Abdelatif, after the occupation closed the area, amid intensive security measures, prevented citizens and landowners from accessing their fields.
- Dashing youth Bilal Sae’d Ghazal, from the Kisan village, east of Bethlehem.
Nablus:
- Forcibly expelled farmers from their lands while implementing a project of growing apricot trees near the Shafi Shamron settlement, under that they didn’t get a permit from the occupation army.
- Attacking citizens’ vehicles with stones on the road between Nablus and Jenin near the abandoned settlement “Homesh” that was built on the lands of Silat al-Dhahr and Barqa, thus, breaking glass of 25 vehicles, wounded a number of them.
Jordan Valley:
- Notification to stop work on a 10 donums belonging to Rami Najib Foqha, planted with legumes, urging that it is an archaeological area.
- Seizing residential tents and barn of livestock in the Atof area, southeast of Tubas, belonging to Saeed Zayed Abu Zahir, and notified the removal of a room, a balcony, and a number of olive trees in the Ebziq area, north of Tubas.
- Raiding the Um al-Quba area in the northern Jordan Valley, seized 5 agricultural tractors while working, and broke into a number of tents in the Ein al-Hilweh area in the northern Jordan Valley, causing wreaked havoc there.
