المكتب الوطني للدفاع عن الارض ومقاومة الاستيطان منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية
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By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The National Bureau for Defending the Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its latest weekly report that as expected, the Israeli Supreme Court decided last week to prevent the evacuation of a settlement outpost that was recently established in the occupied West Bank, built on the lands of Al-Mughayyir village, Ramallah, due to the pressure exerted by the Minister of Finance, and Minister of the Ministry of Army, Smotrich, where the court acts the same in most cases brought before it when it comes to settlements and settlers.
It is a court that plays a very dangerous role in this regard as it claims that it reflects the occupying State’s commitment to the rule of law and contributes to consolidating the legitimacy of this State before International Judicial Organizations i.e. one of its functions is to protect the image of the State of Israel and those who violate the law, as it honestly plays this role.
Within the context, the decision came to consider a petition submitted by 5 families that settled in the site, shortly after the shooting attack at the entrance of ‘Eli settlement’ 2 weeks ago, which resulted in the killing of 4 settlers. It stated that at least 5 buildings won’t be evacuated or destroyed until next week, in return for a financial depositing NIS 50,000. The decision also tackled 7 settlement outposts established by settlers in the aftermath of the operation that targeted a gathering of settlers at the entrance of the same settlement.
Minister of the Occupation Army, Yoav Gallant issued an order to evacuate the settlement outpost despite Smotrich’s opposition. According to the distribution of powers at the Ministry of the Army, Gallant has the authority to issue an evacuation order if there are ‘security needs’. Indeed, Gallant issued an evacuation order, but was canceled by a court decision. It seems that the dispute between Gallant and Smotrich on that is due to powers distribution in the Ministry of Army.
The Israeli Supreme Court’s decision opens the file of settlement outposts that spread like cancer in the Palestinian countryside of the West Bank, where a debate is taking place on them and their role in advancing the settlement project steps towards closing the road to settlement opportunities at political conflict based on the so-called two-state solution, among the Israeli government about.
The Israeli Supreme Court’s decision opens the file of settlement outposts that spread like cancer in the Palestinian countryside of the West Bank, where a debate is taking place on them and their role in advancing the settlement project steps towards closing the road to settlement opportunities at political conflict based on the so-called two-state solution, among the Israeli government about.
Thus, the story of these settlement outposts, which Smotrich, Ben Gvir, and others attach great importance to in controlling the widest possible area of land with the least possible number of Palestinian people. Knowing that the outposts are estimated as follows, 50 outposts in Hebron Governorate, 17 in Bethlehem Governorate, 15 in Jerusalem Governorate, 20 in Jericho Governorate, 55 in Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, 18 in Salfeet Governorate, 11 in Qalqilia Governorate, 45 in Nablus Governorate, 5 in Tulkarm Governorate, 11 in Tubas Governorate, and 7 in Jenin Governorate.
Usually, the first step begins with a tent or a caravan to a number of settlers near an existing settlement built by the ‘Hilltop Youth’, financed by leaders of ‘Amanah’ and sponsored by the local or regional councils as well as the rabbis in order to prevent the Government and the Civil Administration from removing being violate even the applicable Israeli laws, then comes the role of the Settlement Brigade, to sign contracts with settlers either for construction or land use.
The ‘Settlement Brigade’ is a non-governmental body, established in 1971 to work merely in the West Bank, affiliated with the Settlement Department in the Jewish Agency until 1993, and then became one of the hidden arms of the Civil Administration in the occupation army. The tent or caravan then develops into mobile homes linked to nearby settlements, then provided it with roads, water and electricity network as well as other infrastructure supplies, pending the granting of legitimacy by the Civil Administration.
Worth mentioning that the Israeli Inner Cabinet agreed last Feb. to legalize 9 illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank, out of 77 illegal outposts, which is ‘according to international law are false that Minister of National Security, Ben Gvir demands to, legitimize, and he took the run-over attack that was carried out by a Palestinian at the time in the ‘Ramot settlement’, north of Jerusalem, which led to the killing of 3 Israelis and the injuring others as a pretext for that. As for the outposts that were legalized by the security cabinet, are: ‘Abigail, Beit Hogla, Givat Harel, Givat Arnon, Mitzpe Yehuda, Malachi Hashalom, and Asahel. And ‘”Sadi Boaz, and Shehret’. According to the government’s statement, the decision called for the start of a wide process to prepare for the continuation of legalizing all random outposts.
Knowing that dangers of these outposts lies in attacking the Palestinians, and threatening their security, where secret terrorist cells began to develop over time into terrorist organizations that operate in an organized manner, and have their political references at the Knesset, the government, and the Regional Councils of the settlements. Moreover, rabbis and settlers attack the Palestinians, destroying their property, and writing racist slogans, they come out in hundreds in an organized manner, raiding, burning and destroying everything that stands in their way, protected by the occupation army, starting with Hawara, Barqa, Burin, Jalood and Qasra in Nablus, through Sinjel, Turmosaya, Mughayer and Um Safa in Ramallah, ending with Masafer Yatta in Hebron.
According to Israeli sources, the Israeli security apparatuses including the Shin Bet fear that an armed militia of settlers will be formed to carry out crimes against the Palestinians in light of the great support they enjoy from ministers in the occupation government after the police were prevented from the extremist Minister of National Security, Ben Gvir from attacking the settlers. These apparatuses indicate that the ‘Hilltop Youth’ and Pay Price’ groups and other Jewish terrorist organizations, which take the outposts as a safe place, znd having representatives in the Knesset through ministers and Knesset members, who were at the head of these groups, including Ben Gvir, and Finance Minister, Smotrich, who previously arrested for leading attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.
The settlers also enjoy the support of Knesset member, Zvi Sukkot, who is affiliated with the Hilltop Youth and was one of its leaders, as he recently expressed his dissatisfaction with the Israeli Government’s policy in the West Bank. In general, the occupation government gives cover to the formation of an armed militia for settlers in the West Bank, as scores of gunmen recently attacked the villages of Um Safa, Turmusaya and Orif, in light of the government’s inability to issue a statement of condemnation after the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, sought to obtain the support of the ministers for a similar statement, but failed to convince them.
In accordance to the Israeli laws, the demolition of illegal housing units built by settlers in the West Bank has decreased since the leader of the ‘Religious Zionism Party, the Minister of Finance and the Minister in the Ministry of the Army, Smotrich, was given broad authority over civil cases in the West Bank. According to Israeli reports, data show that during the 2022, the rate of demolition of illegal buildings erected by settlers was about 25 per month, while only two demolitions were carried out on average between January and last May of this year.
This was after Smotrich entrusted the responsibility for managing settlement in the Ministry of the Army to the extremist Yehuda Eliyahu, who along with Smotrich founded the far-right ‘Regavim Organization that wages an open war against Palestinian construction in the West Bank. The available data indicates that there are reports about buildings illegally built with the aim of evacuating them, but the Civil Administration tends not to agree to this except in exceptional cases. During the last few months, there were several cases in which the occupation forces came to demolish buildings or prevent the construction of buildings, but after the intervention of the political level, especially Smotrich. However, the Civil Administration was mainly focused on demolishing Palestinian buildings, knowing that out of 187 new building demolition orders issued from 2019 to the end of 2020, 159 were for Palestinians, and only 28 were for settlers.
On the contrary, the Israeli Pprogressive Journalist, Amira Hiss considered the attack on Jenin and its Camp last week as a prelude to return to the 4 settlements in Jenin, and that the military operation aims to subjugate the Palestinians and weaken them, and thus start implementing the plan to return to the ‘Ganim, Kadim, Sanur and Homesh settlements,’ where the right-wing government plans to return to settle there, but it was difficult to achieve this plan in light of the presence of a military force in Jenin, and therefore it was necessary to launch such a military operation., as the government seeks after the abolition of that law to return the settlers to the settlements which were evacuated in 2005.” Hiss noted that despite the evacuation of the 4 settlements in 2005, the Israeli army declared them closed military zones classified as Area C, in which Palestinian construction is prohibited, thus they have remained unchanged for 18 years.
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Erecting domes over the ‘Jewel of Israel Synagogue’, which is 200m. away from Al-Aqsa Mosque, and over the ‘Al-Kharab Synagogue that is tens of meters west of the Mosque, besides, starting to carry out a Jewish project near the ‘Porat Joseph Synagogue, 75m. away from the Mosque, to build a new building of 1,700m2, consisting of 5 floors, with a height of 12m.
Hebron:
- Confiscating 9 dunums in the Wadi Al-Ghrous area, east of Hebron, and set up a tent on it.
Bethlehem:
- Uprooting olive trees, apples, and almonds, and destroyed agricultural crops in the Al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem.
Ramallah:
- Establishing a new settlement outpost on lands near Al-Mughayer and set up a large tent in the Qaboun area, east of the village, and placed more than 100 cows inside. The area on which the tent was erected is on the road that access about 20,000 dunums and extends to the Jordan Valley.
- Attacking citizens’ vehicles with stones on the Al-Ma’rajat road that linking Jericho with Ramallah.
- Attacking the Deir Dibwan town and fired bullets at the citizens, which led to the injury of the young man, Habis Ali, with a bullet in the hand, another group of settlers attacked citizens’ vehicles near the Beit El settlement, while others attacked citizens’ vehicles near the Rawabi Junction with stones, causing damage to them.
Nablus:
- Burning a truck between the villages of ‘Urif and ‘Asirah al-Qibliya, south of Nablus.
- Steeling 3 sheep in Khirbet Yanoun, near Aqraba, while others burned dozens of dunums planted with agricultural crops in the village of Beit Dajan, east of Nablus. Moreover, they burnt dozens of olive trees in agricultural fields south of the town of Burin, and the occupation forces demolished and confiscated ten tents in the Abu Saifi Plain, east of the town of Duma.
- Attacking citizens’ vehicles near the town of Deir Sharaf, with stones, and carried out riotous acts.
Salfeet:
- Attacking farmers while on their land in the Al-Shaab area of the Kafr Al-Dik town, and beaten citizens Mahmod and Ahmed Al-Dik.
- Torching trees, and municipal park property in the Qarawat Bani Hassa.
- Leveling areas of citizens’ land at the northern entrance of Salfeet, near the Ariel settlement.
- Uprooting 340 olive trees belonging to the citizens Nasheet Sabti Ayyash and Mari Ayyash from the Rafat village, west of Salfeet, cultivated in Harikat al-Hamaima, located west of the village, under the pretext that they are planted in area C”
Qalqilia:
- Seizng a bulldozer in the village of Kafr Thulth, south of Qalqilya, and arrested the driver, under the pretext of working in an area C.
- Attacking Ambulance’s crew in Qalqilya, carrying a child sustained fractures near ‘Kedumim settlement.
