The report of the National Office for the Defense of the Earth and Resistance to Settlement (affiliated to the Liberation Organization) revealed that the Israeli occupation authorities are implementing new settlement and Jewish plans and projects in occupied Jerusalem and the Bethlehem Governorate (south of the occupied West Bank).
In its weekly report issued today, Saturday, the office stated that the Israeli settlement activity does not stop, as it moves from one governorate to another in the occupied West Bank, but its focus in the recent period is taking place in the Palestinian Valley areas and from the Bethlehem and Jerusalem governorates as its target. He pointed out that settlement organizations are active in those areas, and the lands that are seized are registered in the name of these organizations or in the name of the so-called "Jewish National Fund". He explained that the city of Bethlehem witnessed a settlement attack last week, where the so-called "Israeli National Fund" announced the completion of registration procedures and annexation of 526 dunums of land, "Nahalin" southwest of the city, in favor of the settlement "Gush Etzion" settlement after the occupation courts rejected a lawsuit Palestinian owners. He pointed out that the occupation courts rejected all the papers presented by the Palestinians over the years and proved their ownership of the lands, and ruled the case in favor of the settlers, and as a result, it was registered in the name of the "National Fund", which in turn gave the lands to the settlers. The report stated that the occupation authorities also seized 700 agricultural dunums located in the "Aqban" area in the vicinity of "Jabal Al-Fardis" east of Bethlehem, and was fenced with barbed wire and installed an iron gate four days ago, in favor of establishing the "Herodon" park. He stressed that the eastern region of Bethlehem Governorate has been exposed for some time to the leveling of areas of citizens´ lands in "Kisan" village (about 20 km from the city), in favor of expanding the borders of the "Abi Hanahel" settlement built on the lands of the village. He pointed out that a number of mobile homes (caravans) were installed near the village on an area of ​​50 dunums owned by Palestinian citizens residing in Jordan. He pointed out that dozens of trees have been uprooted and dozens of electric poles installed, for the benefit of a settlement plan that serves two settlements built on part of the lands, which threatens to displace the citizens of the village, who number about 800 people. In the occupied city of Jerusalem, the occupation authorities are continuing their Judaization projects, as the "Jerusalem municipality" is constructing a huge wheel in the “Armon Huntsev” park (the High Commissioner’s Palace) that will overlook the Old City. The Dulab project comes to a group of other tourist temptations planned for the historic Jerusalem Basin, including the suspended train to the Al-Buraq Wall and the Omega, a suspension bridge and a ski facility. According to the National Office, the huge wheel is being built in cooperation with the so-called “Jerusalem Development Authority” as part of a comprehensive plan to restore the Armon Huntsev Park. The plan includes restoring the park and setting up restaurants, a garden, statues, bike paths, and a music center, and in front of the park on the other side of the street is planning To establish six hotels. He stated that the "Israeli Nature Authority" crews last week demolished three warehouses in the "Wadi Hilweh" neighborhood in the town of "Silwan" (south of Al Aqsa Mosque), in the land of Citizen Marwan Siyam in the "Bab Al Magharba" area in Wadi Hilwa neighborhood on the pretext of "turning the land for the public benefit" In the plan of settlement expansion and Judaization. The occupation municipality is planning to establish a "pedestrian road" on the ground that will connect from the "Kedem settlement project" at the entrance to the neighborhood, to the "Mugrabi Gate" and the Al-Buraq Wall. The land is located several meters away from the construction of one of the stations of the "air train - cable car" project. The goal is to transform it into a part of the CEDEM project and turn it into the settler “Elad” settlement association, as that association tried to send surveyors and workers to the land and the target area, but the land owners repeatedly confronted it. The land area is approximately 1000 square meters, and it is in a sensitive and strategic area, adjacent to the Mugrabi Gate (the southern door to the Holy City), the main entrance to the Buraq Wall and the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the "Mugrabi Gate". In its report, the National Office pointed out that settlers are still continuing orgy in various governorates in the West Bank, starting by disrupting traffic on the roads and throwing stones at Palestinian cars, by setting fire to Palestinian lands and properties, and ending with assaulting their production projects and trying to sabotage them. From the point of view of the international community, Israeli settlements are illegal and a major obstacle to peace efforts because they are built on land that the Palestinians want within their next state. On December 23, 2016, the UN Security Council adopted a draft resolution to halt and condemn settlements, affirming that the settlements are illegal and threatening the two-state solution and peace process.
