By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report , that on the eve of the Knesset elections scheduled to take place next month, the Local Planning Committee of the Ma’ale Adumim Settlement Council holds a discussion on the 14th of this month about the ‘E1’ settlement project, east of the occupied Jerusalem. It is clear that the settlement plans in that area includes the construction of 3,401 settlement units on an area of about 2,100 dunums, which extends from Jerusalem along 11 kilometers towards the Green Line, which, if implemented, would divide the West Bank into two halves, north and south, and deal a fatal blow to the prospects for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the one hand, and the displacement and expulsion of about 3000 Palestinians living in the Bedouin communities in the area, including Khan al-Ahmar.
At the same time, Netanyahu, leader of the Likud Party is ready to support settlement construction in Jerusalem, as he expressed his willingness to push the approval procedures for the new Jewish neighborhood plan at Jerusalem Airport ‘Atarot’ north of the occupied city should the forces of the rightZionist unite and contest the elections jointly. It was said Netanyahu succeeded in doing so as the head of the ‘Religious Zionism’ party, Bezalel Smotretz announced that an agreement had been reached with the head of the fascist ‘Otzma Yehudit Party’, Itamar Ben Gvir to run in the elections with a joint list a day before the closing date for candidacy for the Knesset elections, and his support to join the government coalition that he seeks to form after the elections. Knowing that the new neighborhood was designed to include 9,000 settlement units on the lands of the old Palestinian Jerusalem Airport .
On the other hand, the occupation government continues the crimes of ethnic cleansing and the policy of forcible transfer of the Palestinian population, and in a renewed crime it once again carried out a large-scale demolition operation in Khirbet Humsa al-Fawqa in the northern Jordan Valley, where it confiscated most of the homes and livestock pens in the Homsa gathering. It demolished this gathering in last November. In the past, it dismantled and confiscated 13 residential tents and carried out forced displacement of 11 families from the Al-Awawda and Abu Al-Kabash families in the village of Humsa Al-Fawqa “Al-Buqai`a” in the northern Jordan Valley.
Within the context, the occupation forces began a large-scale military training that lasted for three days in the areas declared by Israel as “firing zones” in the hills south of Hebron, noting that the occupation army had not conducted any military training, but the aim is to expel its residents from their homes and seize their lands. Likewise, settlers from “Telem and Dora” settlers located on the lands of the towns of Idna and Tarqumiya, northwest of Hebron, cultivated lands in the Sha’ab al-Masry and Khallet Amer areas of the lands of the two towns, with the aim of seizing them, as the owners of those lands are prevented from accessing them, and the target area is in thousands of dunams. The occupation seeks to seize it in favor of settlement expansion and linking the settlements in the region to each other.
In the Bethlehem Governorate, settlers erected a caravan on 150 donums of the lands of Battir town, west of Bethlehem, with the aim of seizing it to establish a settlement outpost.
In the Salfeet Governorate, settlers put a mobile caravan in Khallet Hassan, west of the Bedia town, west of Salfeet. It is noted 4000 donums of Khallet Hassan is threatened by confiscation to expand a new settlement and to link five settlements and a number of settlement blocs and outposts between the Salfeet and Qalqilya Governorates.
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Notifying of the demolition of the Al-Essawiya Club headquarter.
- Forcing a Palestinian to demolish his own home in the Ras Al-Amud Neighborhood under the pretext of not having a building permit.
- Demolishing a house under construction and 70-meter-long walls in the Marj Al-Anati area from the lands of the Anata town, northeast of occupied Jerusalem, under the pretext of not having a building permit.
- Attacking one of the doors of the Roman Orthodox Church in the area of Masrara, and smashing its doors.
Ramallah:
- Setting up a tent at the main entrance of the Deir Nzam village, west of Ramallah, as a military monitoring point.
- Israeli settlers killed Khaled Nofal, 34, near the Palestinian village of Ras Karkar, northwest of the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Hebron:
- Breaking into a Bedouin community near the Khashm Al-Daraj area, east of Yatta.
- Demolishing a house in the town of Beit Awa, southwest of Hebron, and inspecting a number of houses, demolished a citizen house in the Khirbet Taha in the town as well.
- Sabotaging the crops of citizens on lands planted with wheat and barley, in the “Khirbet Al-Tha`la”, east of Yatta, south of Hebron.
- Stopping a popular event to cultivate land threatened with settlement in Khirbet Umm Khousa in the Masafer Yatta.
- Handing demolition notifications of five houses in the Tel Rumeida area, in the center of Hebron and in the Jaber Neighborhood.
- Notifying of the demolition of 3 houses and a sheep barn in the Um Al-Amad area, west of Yatta, south of Hebron, with an area of about 130 m2 for each house, under the pretext of not having a building permit.
- Demolishing a one-story house with an area of 200 m2 in the area of Khalit Al-Forn, north of Yatta, and a house with an area of 200 m2 in the Khalit Al-Mughrabi between Yatta and Hebron.
Bethlehem:
- Notifying of removing a fence around an agricultural land in the town of Sabastia, north of Nablus.
- Establishing a settlement outpost in the lands of Battir town, west of Bethlehem.
- Notifying of the demolition of a tent and retaining walls in the Fajor area, west of the town.
Nablus:
- Notifying of the demolition of the a well in the Asira AlShamaleia town, north of Nablus.
- Attacking citizens’ vehicles with stones at the junction leading to the Nablus-Qalqilya road, near the town of Huwara, south of Nablus.
- Notifying a citizen to remove the fence surrounding his land near the archaeological site in the Sabastia town.
- Injuring 2 youths with rubber-coated metal bullets, and others suffocated from stun grenades, as settler’s stormed Khan Al-Laban Al-Sharqiya, south of Nablus.
Salfeet:
- Storming the Kafeel Haris town under the pretext of performing religious rituals inside the town. Moreover, they destroyed 15 vehicles and breaking the windows of 3 houses, insulted and terrorized the citizen of the town.
Tulkarm:
- Demolishing a wall surrounding an agricultural land with an area of one and a half dunams planted with avocado trees at the entrance to Khirbet Jabara, south of Tulkarm, without any prior notifications with the aim of establishing a new settlement industrial zone.
Jenin:
- Removing 40 vegetable and fruit stands near the Jalameh crossing, north of the city, and seizing them under the pretext of being close to the crossing point, the losses amounted to more than NIS 30,000.
- Demolishing 11 pantries used as small groceries in the village of Anin, west of Jenin, for the second time in a row, in the Al-Dhahr area near the Apartheid Wall.