Serious US decisions against the Palestinian cause pave the way for new settlement activities and projects to annex settlements to the occupying state, according to a weekly settlement report prepared by the PLO´s National Office for Land Defense and Resistance.
The report pointed out that the US administration is renouncing previous commitments, following a series of unfair decisions and actions taken in favor of the occupying power, the latest of which was the legitimization of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Western conflicts with international law.
According to the report, the US move follows the decision of the European Union Supreme Court issued last week and approved the labeling of Israeli goods produced in settlements in the territories occupied in 1967, which are exported to EU countries as if in response to the European Court decision.
The new American position was preceded by preliminary Israeli steps in this regard, where the Israeli Knesset enacted on February 6, 2017, the law of legalization of settlements, which actually aims to seize the private Palestinian land on which settlements were built in the West Bank, and allocate it to Israeli settlers.
The position announced by the US Secretary of State on settlements revealed plans for settlement construction in Jerusalem and surrounding areas. Among them are a plan to find an extension between Jerusalem and the Ma´aleh Adumim settlement - the Khan al-Ahmar area, which extends eastwards into the E1 area, and other construction plans in the territory of Jerusalem Airport (Qalandiya Airport) and in Givat Hamtous on the lands of Beit. Safafa.
The number of settlement units to be built on these lands is thousands of housing units and they are in various stages of organization. The project includes the construction of 2,600 housing units, including 600 units to expand the town of Beit Safafa. The plans were approved by the District Planning and Construction Committee. Another plan awaits the green light in an area designated by the occupation authorities, the area of ​​"Mpsert Adumim", and extends over an area of ​​12 dunums, and the first phase of it provides for the construction of tens of thousands of settlement units.
Another plan includes the expansion of the Jewish settlement of Nabi Ya´qub, north of Jerusalem, by adding 2,000 housing units. This plan forms part of the main agreement between the Jerusalem Municipality, the Ministry of Finance, and the City Development Authority. In the Qalandia area, the plans dealt with the transformation of the airport area into a Haredi residential neighborhood, which also includes thousands of settlement units.
Reactions continued to this new position of the US administration. More than 135 members of the US Congress signed a petition last weekend calling on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to reverse his decision to regard Israeli settlements in the West Bank as not in contravention of international law. .
"The US position undermines the credibility of the United States as an impartial mediator between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, seriously damages the future of peace, and jeopardizes the security of America, Israel and the Palestinian people," the petitioners said, calling for a retreat from Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. A decades-long US policy towards Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which was considered to be contrary to international law.
The move has also been widely condemned at the international level in the Russian Federation, the People´s Republic of China, Britain, France and other decision-making capitals around the world. The United Nations said the change in US policy had no impact on the legal status of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and stressed that the settlements violated international law.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini also declared that his position against Israeli settlement activities in the occupied West Bank has not changed and that all settlements are illegal.
A day after the US administration announced its new stance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been accused of corruption, bribery, fraud and dishonesty, toured the Gush Etzion settlement bloc south of Bethlehem, where he admitted as paving a new election campaign that he was “feeling very emotional”. The Trump administration came to correct historical injustice, and to stand by the truth and justice, as he claimed.
After the new US position, Netanyahu acted as a prelude to a third election campaign and met with the heads of the Israeli settlement councils on the West Bank to address his sympathy and support. "The historic decision by the US administration offers Israel a unique opportunity to define Israel´s eastern border and annex the Jordan Valley," he said in a video message posted on his official Twitter account.
In the context, Netanyahu agreed to activate the draft law on the annexation of the Jordan Valley to Israel, where Knesset member Sharien Haskel, "Likud", which submitted the bill, that "the law has the full support of the Prime Minister" and asked to exempt its draft from the mandatory waiting period, The six-week period could be voted on within a week in the Knesset´s Organizing Committee, which is chaired by MP Avi Nissenkorn of the Blue White coalition. Haskell called on representatives of "Blue White", "Yisrael Beiteinu" and "Labor-Gesher" to support Likud´s efforts to pass the bill by 80 votes in the Knesset.
On the other hand, in the context of the policy of displacement and ethnic cleansing practiced by the Israeli authorities and the municipality of Jerusalem, land was razed near the Pope´s Mount in Al-Eizariya, which is the only one connected to it, and caused the destruction of the main water pipeline.
It is noteworthy that the Pope is one of the Bedouin communities in the vicinity of Jerusalem, and the occupation seeks to displace its inhabitants in order to establish settlement projects and link the settlement of "Ma´ale Adumim" to Jerusalem, and the implementation of the scheme known as "E1", which aims to completely separate the city of Jerusalem from its Palestinian extension .
The report monitored a series of recent developments in several governorates in the West Bank, due to the systematic attacks of settlers. He has written racist slogans inciting the killing of Arabs in the three villages.
In a provocative move because of its implications forging the history of the city of Hebron, the settlers affixed stone carvings engraved with candlestick on one of the arches of the old city of Hebron claiming to be "carving lighthouses" and was a historical symbol of the Jews in ancient Hebron. Dozens of settlers stormed the Church of Al-Maskobia in the city by protecting a large force of the Israeli army and supporting an occupying helicopter to practice Talmudic rituals, the first time that the settlers stormed it in many years. The church is located in the al-Jalda neighborhood of the Palestinian-controlled area of ​​Hebron.
Settlers also broke into a house belonging to the family of Ghalib Tahboub, and began to create a tin chamber (Zinco) area of ​​about 20 square meters. It is noteworthy that the house is located on the small Shalala Street and adjacent to the outpost "Aldobia", a closed area by military orders, and has been prohibited to enter the Palestinian citizens for more than fifteen years.
Previously, a group of settlers placed signs in the markets of the Old City of Hebron under the protection of Israeli soldiers. This comes at a time when the Israeli-controlled area of ​​Hebron is witnessing an active movement of settlers preparing to celebrate the so-called "Mrs. Sarah". Settlers set up tents around the Tomb of the Patriarchs.
In Nablus, settlers under the protection of the Israeli army attacked farmers in the village of Jaloud, south of Nablus, and expelled them from their lands after stealing the olive crop, while a military force stormed the archaeological site in Sebastiya, north of Nablus, amid gunfire and tear gas, which led to clashes. The town is subjected to a fierce attack and almost daily storming by the occupation and its settlers.
At the same time, a number of Israeli settlers attacked and threw stones at 10 vehicles near Za´tara checkpoint.
In the governorate of Salfit, the Israeli occupation authorities renewed their notification of the seizure of hundreds of dunums of Palestinian land in Salfit governorate in the north of the West Bank. These areas are used by the Israeli occupation for several years ranging from 4-6 years for military purposes. For the year of 31/12/2022.
The areas covered by the notification cover areas of land located in the vicinity of Deir Istiya village (Khallet Hazim, Khallet Hassanein and Aqbat Jarda), the village of Kafel Haris (Western Region, Khirbat, Khallet Abu Ahmad), the village of Burqin (Khirbet al-Fakhakhir), and the village of Kafr al-Dik ( Khirbet Susiya, Deir Semaan), and in the village of Deir Ballout, (Wadi Jabarin, and Khaizar). The village of Sakaka (Khallet Ibdah, light fire), the village of Masha (Wadi Masha, Alwadat, fire), and in the village of Zawiya (Srisia, Khallet Hamad, Marj Alkaka, Khallet Abu Zaytouna, Al Zard, Khalayel Al Zawiya, Lobster, Habiba, Wadi Ismail and Al Wajh In the village of Marda (Daouk, al-Sha´ab, and Jannat Shoala Tin) and in Bidiya (Abu Anous, Haris, and Wadi Awwad).
The following are the weekly documented violations:
Jerusalem: Demolitions of Palestinian houses have witnessed record numbers since the beginning of this year, the number of houses that have been demolished about 140 houses until last September, and Israel continues to demolish the homes of Jerusalemites, where the occupation authorities demolished a house in Jabal Mukaber, belonging to the citizen Fouad Grove, the Israeli municipality forced the family of Mousa Awwad Khalayleh to demolish his house in the same town;
Israeli bulldozers also demolished a house in al-Ashqariya neighborhood in Beit Hanina, north of occupied Jerusalem.
Ramallah: The Israeli occupation forces demolished two houses in Shuqba village, northwest of Ramallah, belonging to Abdel Jaber Al-Masri. They raided Ein Qinya village west of Ramallah.
Hebron: Israeli occupying forces notified Mohammed Mousa Zain of demolishing his 160-square-meter house in Khelet Ghaziwi and photographed other houses in Susiya, east of Yatta, south of Hebron. Khaled Khanna and his brother Nabil, located in the Bass area on the outskirts of the camp, each of an area of ​​200 square meters.
They also demolished a house belonging to Mohammed Ali Dababseh, the second time that the demolition took place after the Israeli court rejected his petition against the demolition order in Khalet al-Dabaa, south of Hebron. In addition, a number of his sons and brothers were injured in another attack by settlers, spraying them with nerve gas, and breaking a storefront. The settlers also attacked a number of houses, including the house of Mohammed Rabie al-Ja´bari.
Bethlehem: Ra´ed Khalil Salah, 45, from Al-Khader village, south of Bethlehem, was injured when settlers attacked him while he was harvesting olives in his land south of the town. In the town of Tekoa, southeast of Bethlehem, they organized a march of vehicles.
Nablus: A number of settlers attacked 10 vehicles near Za´tara checkpoint and threw stones at them. Israeli occupying forces seized a “digger” owned by ´Ali Issa Makhlouf from Asira al-Qibliya village south of Nablus.
Settlers set fire to large areas of the village of Burqa, near the "Homesh" settlement in the area of ​​the village, and prevented citizens from accessing these lands to control the fire, while settlers infiltrated into the village of Majdal Bani Fadel and Qablan, south of Nablus, and burned a number of vehicles They attacked the house of Thaer Hanaysheh from Beit Dajan village, east of Nablus, burned his vehicle and wrote racist slogans.
Tulkarm: A number of Palestinian civilians, including Ahmad ´Abdallah Khalil Ammar, 25, from Qafin village, were wounded by Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank town of Nazlet Eissa. .
Salfit: Settlers infiltrated the northern area of ​​Kafr al-Dik, near the perimeter of the schools, damaged tires of about 50 vehicles, racist slogans on the vehicles themselves, and the walls of the houses in Hebrew marked "closed military zone."
