The Israeli army attacked a sit-in organized by Palestinian and foreign activists on Saturday in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea in the northern West Bank, rejecting a pledge by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the occupation.
Participants in the sit-in, called by the Wall and Settlement Authority in the Palestinian Authority and the Popular Resistance Committees, raised Palestinian flags and banners written in English confirming that the area is Palestinian land.
The coordinator of the Popular Committees Salah al-Khawaja said that the Israeli army raided the activists´ group and attacked them and evacuated them from the area.
He added that the sit-in came to confirm the rejection of Netanyahu´s policy and the occupation government aimed at annexing the Palestinian valleys, calling on the Palestinians to be physically present on the ground to reject the occupation plans, and pointed out that the policy of preserving the Palestinian land needs practical steps in order to face the policy of annexation and expansion.
Al-Khawaja explained that the effectiveness in the Jordan Valley is to remind the international community to maintain its decision and prevent the policy of annexation and colonial expansion and stop the policy of perpetuating this colonialism, especially as the land is occupied territory under international law.
In the same context, witnesses said that the occupation forces deployed since the morning hours and declared a closed military zone to prevent the Palestinian presence there.
Ahead of the September 17 Knesset elections, Netanyahu vowed to begin annexing the Jordan Valley and some areas of the Dead Sea, which make up about 22 percent of the West Bank, "immediately after the elections."
Netanyahu´s remarks drew international and Arab condemnation, and the Palestinian Authority said such a move would effectively abrogate interim peace deals with Israel.
Some 50,000 Palestinians live in the Jordan Valley, including the city of Jericho, accounting for 2 percent of the total Palestinian population in the West Bank.
