11 feb 2019
Israeli authorities declared intention to retroactively legalize settlement buildings built in part on private Palestinian land in the West Bank settlement of Alei Zahav, legally established in Deir Ballut and Kafr al-Dik villages in the northern West Bank district of Salfit, Israeli media sources reported Monday.
According to Haaretz Hebrew newspaper, a legal mechanism, approved in December, has allowed to retroactively authorize illegal construction on private Palestinian land if the land was allotted "in good faith” if Israel incorrectly believed that the lands belonged to it at the time of its allotment.
Israel was using now-obsolete surveying technology to declare certain areas as state land, but these plots were not always marked accurately on maps.
Currently, Israel’s Civil Administration is using a new technology to correct the line, known as the “blue line,” retroactively, finding that some areas that were thought to have been state lands were actually never seized by Israel, the paper said.
The land on which settlement unit are built in Alei Zahav was considered state land, according to the old maps. However, the Civil Administration team discovered in 2016 that land on which some buildings were built was actually private Palestinian land.
According to the new mechanism, 2,000 settlement units will be legalized in areas considered to contain "illegally built structures."
According to Haaretz Hebrew newspaper, a legal mechanism, approved in December, has allowed to retroactively authorize illegal construction on private Palestinian land if the land was allotted "in good faith” if Israel incorrectly believed that the lands belonged to it at the time of its allotment.
Israel was using now-obsolete surveying technology to declare certain areas as state land, but these plots were not always marked accurately on maps.
Currently, Israel’s Civil Administration is using a new technology to correct the line, known as the “blue line,” retroactively, finding that some areas that were thought to have been state lands were actually never seized by Israel, the paper said.
The land on which settlement unit are built in Alei Zahav was considered state land, according to the old maps. However, the Civil Administration team discovered in 2016 that land on which some buildings were built was actually private Palestinian land.
According to the new mechanism, 2,000 settlement units will be legalized in areas considered to contain "illegally built structures."
Israeli soldiers demolished, on Monday morning, a Palestinian home in the al-Walaja village, northwest of Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank.
Dozens of soldiers, accompanied by bulldozers, invaded Ein Jweiza area in al-Walaja, after surrounding it, and proceeded to demolish the property.
The demolished home is owned by Majdi Shweiki, and was a 100 square/meter property, inhabited by five family members.
The Israeli army claims that the home was built without a license from the “Civil Administration Office,” the administrative branch of military occupation, as it is located in “Area C” of the West Bank.
Local nonviolent activist Ibrahim Awadallah said that Israel issued demolition orders against 180 homes in the village, including 40 homes that received “Administrative Demolition Orders,” which are issued without a court ruling.
Last year, the Jerusalem City Council announced the annexation of large areas of Palestinian lands, in order to build and expand its illegal, segregated colonies.
Dozens of soldiers, accompanied by bulldozers, invaded Ein Jweiza area in al-Walaja, after surrounding it, and proceeded to demolish the property.
The demolished home is owned by Majdi Shweiki, and was a 100 square/meter property, inhabited by five family members.
The Israeli army claims that the home was built without a license from the “Civil Administration Office,” the administrative branch of military occupation, as it is located in “Area C” of the West Bank.
Local nonviolent activist Ibrahim Awadallah said that Israel issued demolition orders against 180 homes in the village, including 40 homes that received “Administrative Demolition Orders,” which are issued without a court ruling.
Last year, the Jerusalem City Council announced the annexation of large areas of Palestinian lands, in order to build and expand its illegal, segregated colonies.
Israeli forces raided water pump rooms in the village of at-Tiwani, east of Masafer Yatta, south of the southern West Bank district of Hebron, said a local official.
Head of at-Tiwani village council, Mohammed Rabe’, told WAFA that Israeli forces, accompanied by staff from the Israeli civil administration, raided the water pump rooms in the village, and conducted search operations for the pipelines supplying the eastern part of Masafer Yatta with water, in an apparent prelude to cut off water supply to residents.
The popular committee coordinator in Yatta, Rateb al-Jabour, said that this measure aims at forcing the residents, shepherds and farmers to leave the area for the benefit of settlement expansion.
Head of at-Tiwani village council, Mohammed Rabe’, told WAFA that Israeli forces, accompanied by staff from the Israeli civil administration, raided the water pump rooms in the village, and conducted search operations for the pipelines supplying the eastern part of Masafer Yatta with water, in an apparent prelude to cut off water supply to residents.
The popular committee coordinator in Yatta, Rateb al-Jabour, said that this measure aims at forcing the residents, shepherds and farmers to leave the area for the benefit of settlement expansion.
10 feb 2019
The Israeli authorities on Sunday morning demolished a Palestinian home in Ramla city in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1948.
Local residents said several bulldozers, accompanied by a large police force, entered the city and demolished a Palestinian home under construction for allegedly being unlicensed.
They added that the Israeli police threw a cordon around the area and prevented Palestinian citizens from approaching the demolished building.
Tension prevailed in the city following the demolition which falls in line with a stepped up demolition campaign in Ramla led by the Israeli municipality.
The Palestinians in the 1948 occupied territories, who make up about 20% of the population there, suffer from racial discrimination by official and non-official Israeli authorities, especially in the fields of housing and employment.
Local residents said several bulldozers, accompanied by a large police force, entered the city and demolished a Palestinian home under construction for allegedly being unlicensed.
They added that the Israeli police threw a cordon around the area and prevented Palestinian citizens from approaching the demolished building.
Tension prevailed in the city following the demolition which falls in line with a stepped up demolition campaign in Ramla led by the Israeli municipality.
The Palestinians in the 1948 occupied territories, who make up about 20% of the population there, suffer from racial discrimination by official and non-official Israeli authorities, especially in the fields of housing and employment.
The Israeli occupation forces at nightfall on Saturday broke into the home of a Palestinian prisoner in the southern West Bank province of al-Khalil and notified the family of its decision to demolish the building.
The Israeli military spokesman said soldiers stormed the home of Palestinian detainee Arafat Erf’iya and took measurements of the building, pending its demolition.
Arafat has been held by the Israeli occupation authorities accountable for the death of an Israeli settler on Thursday evening in occupied Jerusalem.
Hundreds of Israeli settlers residing in settlements built on occupied Palestinian lands took to the streets in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and called for the murder of Palestinian anti-occupation attackers.
The Israeli military spokesman said soldiers stormed the home of Palestinian detainee Arafat Erf’iya and took measurements of the building, pending its demolition.
Arafat has been held by the Israeli occupation authorities accountable for the death of an Israeli settler on Thursday evening in occupied Jerusalem.
Hundreds of Israeli settlers residing in settlements built on occupied Palestinian lands took to the streets in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and called for the murder of Palestinian anti-occupation attackers.
9 feb 2019
Dozens of Israeli ministers and senior officials from the Likud political party and other right-wing parties have signed a petition to settle two million Jews across the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and ministers Gilad Erdan, Miri Regev, Yisrael Katz of the Likud party, Ayelet Shaked and Naftali Bennett of New Right party, were among signatories on a petition to abandon the two-state solution and establish new Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank.
The signed petition was put forward by the Nahala Movement, an Israeli settler group, to promote an Israeli settlement plan introduced under the government of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir in the early 1900s.
The main objective of the petition is to settle 2 million Jews in the West Bank.
Nahala activists have been recently protesting outside of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, demanding the next government to work toward the settlement of all of West Bank and to abandon the idea of a two-state solution.
Among members of the Likud who have signed the declaration are Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, Environmental Protection and Jerusalem Affairs Minister Zeev Elkin, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Culture Minister Miri Regev, Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, Communication Minister Ayoub Kara, Immigration and Absorption Minister Yoav Gallant, Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel and Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, both of the New Right party, also signed the petition.
The Nahala Movement's declaration read, "I hereby commit to be loyal to the land of Israel, not to cede one inch of our inheritance from our forefathers. I hereby commit to act to realize the settlement plan for the settlement of 2 million Jews in Judea and Samaria in accordance with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's plan, as well as to encourage and lead the redemption of all the lands throughout Judea and Samaria. I commit to act to cancel the declaration of two states for two peoples and replace it with the stately declaration: The land of Israel: One country for one people."
The Nahala Movement said in a statement that the petition is an “ideological and ethical loyalty test.”
Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law, with recent announcements of settlement expansion provoking condemnation from the international community.
Israeli Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and ministers Gilad Erdan, Miri Regev, Yisrael Katz of the Likud party, Ayelet Shaked and Naftali Bennett of New Right party, were among signatories on a petition to abandon the two-state solution and establish new Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank.
The signed petition was put forward by the Nahala Movement, an Israeli settler group, to promote an Israeli settlement plan introduced under the government of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir in the early 1900s.
The main objective of the petition is to settle 2 million Jews in the West Bank.
Nahala activists have been recently protesting outside of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, demanding the next government to work toward the settlement of all of West Bank and to abandon the idea of a two-state solution.
Among members of the Likud who have signed the declaration are Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, Environmental Protection and Jerusalem Affairs Minister Zeev Elkin, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Culture Minister Miri Regev, Regional Cooperation Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, Communication Minister Ayoub Kara, Immigration and Absorption Minister Yoav Gallant, Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel and Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, both of the New Right party, also signed the petition.
The Nahala Movement's declaration read, "I hereby commit to be loyal to the land of Israel, not to cede one inch of our inheritance from our forefathers. I hereby commit to act to realize the settlement plan for the settlement of 2 million Jews in Judea and Samaria in accordance with Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's plan, as well as to encourage and lead the redemption of all the lands throughout Judea and Samaria. I commit to act to cancel the declaration of two states for two peoples and replace it with the stately declaration: The land of Israel: One country for one people."
The Nahala Movement said in a statement that the petition is an “ideological and ethical loyalty test.”
Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law, with recent announcements of settlement expansion provoking condemnation from the international community.
Israel is planning to seize hundreds of dunums of Palestinian land in Salfit in favor of settlement expansion, sources revealed on Saturday.
Kifl Haris municipality on Saturday was handed an Israeli plan for the establishment of a sewage line that is 2,800 kilometers long and has a width of 8 meters on privately-owned Palestinian lands in Salfit.
Palestinian researcher Khaled Ma'ali said that the Israeli sewage line will destroy hundreds of dunums of land and dozens of olive trees, and will distort the valleys running in the targeted area.
Ma'ali said that vast tracts of lands owned by Palestinian citizens in the villages of Kifl Haris, Qira, Deir Istiya, Bruqin, Kafr ad-Dik, Sarta, Biddya, Az-Zawiya, and Mas-ha in Salfit will be bulldozed and seized in favor of the Israeli project.
Kifl Haris municipality on Saturday was handed an Israeli plan for the establishment of a sewage line that is 2,800 kilometers long and has a width of 8 meters on privately-owned Palestinian lands in Salfit.
Palestinian researcher Khaled Ma'ali said that the Israeli sewage line will destroy hundreds of dunums of land and dozens of olive trees, and will distort the valleys running in the targeted area.
Ma'ali said that vast tracts of lands owned by Palestinian citizens in the villages of Kifl Haris, Qira, Deir Istiya, Bruqin, Kafr ad-Dik, Sarta, Biddya, Az-Zawiya, and Mas-ha in Salfit will be bulldozed and seized in favor of the Israeli project.
Israeli soldiers sealed shut, on Friday evening, a the front entrance of a Palestinian home in the al-‘Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.
Media sources in Hebron said dozens of soldiers invaded the refugee camp, and the surrounding areas, before storming a home and sealing it shut, to prevent the Palestinians from entering it. video
The sources added that the Israeli colonialist settlers tried to force the family out of their home, in order to illegally occupy it.
On Thursday, dozens of illegal colonists surrounded the home, and many of them attacked the family, while Israeli soldiers assaulted many Palestinians who rushed to aid the family.
Media sources in Hebron said dozens of soldiers invaded the refugee camp, and the surrounding areas, before storming a home and sealing it shut, to prevent the Palestinians from entering it. video
The sources added that the Israeli colonialist settlers tried to force the family out of their home, in order to illegally occupy it.
On Thursday, dozens of illegal colonists surrounded the home, and many of them attacked the family, while Israeli soldiers assaulted many Palestinians who rushed to aid the family.
8 feb 2019
The advancement of settlement units continued at an unprecedented high level during the second half of 2018 (July-December), according to a recent EU report on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
More than 7,000 units in the occupied West Bank (4,350), including East Jerusalem (2,900), were advanced in different stages of the planning and implementation process (tenders and plans).
The report said that several important developments took place during the reporting period. In East Jerusalem, Israeli High Court decisions brought between 600 and 700 Palestinians at risk of being evicted in Batan al Hawa (close to the Old city) and families in Sheikh Jarrah (32 persons) lost their final appeal against eviction. A development that will deepen the Israel control of East Jerusalem and the Old City Bassin.
In December, the Israeli government announced that it would allocate land at the Givat Eitam outpost site for the purpose of planning a new settlement in the strategic “E2” area, that potentially will cut off Bethlehem from the southern West Bank, completing the near encirclement of Bethlehem by Israeli settlements.
The many settlement approvals also included plans that will effectively regulate two new settlements (by legalizing the unauthorized outposts of Ibei Hanachal and Gva’ot) and establish two new settlement industrial zones (one near the Beitar Illit settlement and one near the Avnei Hefetz settlement).
The total advancement of settlement units in 2018 (January-December) amounted to more than 15,800 units (9,400 units in the West Bank and 6,400 units in East Jerusalem). The figures show a sharp spike in planning for future construction. This development will, over several years, enable potentially more than 60,0001 Israeli settlers to move to the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
According to the PNN, there are currently approximately 215,000 Israelis living in East Jerusalem, while the settler population in Area C in the occupied West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, is some 413,0002 . This brings the settler population to approximately 630,000 Israeli settlers in 143 settlement locations in the West Bank (132) including East Jerusalem (11)3 and 106 outposts.
Settlements are illegal under international law as reaffirmed by UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016) and the developments on the ground make the prospect of a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as the future capital of both states, increasingly unattainable.
More than 7,000 units in the occupied West Bank (4,350), including East Jerusalem (2,900), were advanced in different stages of the planning and implementation process (tenders and plans).
The report said that several important developments took place during the reporting period. In East Jerusalem, Israeli High Court decisions brought between 600 and 700 Palestinians at risk of being evicted in Batan al Hawa (close to the Old city) and families in Sheikh Jarrah (32 persons) lost their final appeal against eviction. A development that will deepen the Israel control of East Jerusalem and the Old City Bassin.
In December, the Israeli government announced that it would allocate land at the Givat Eitam outpost site for the purpose of planning a new settlement in the strategic “E2” area, that potentially will cut off Bethlehem from the southern West Bank, completing the near encirclement of Bethlehem by Israeli settlements.
The many settlement approvals also included plans that will effectively regulate two new settlements (by legalizing the unauthorized outposts of Ibei Hanachal and Gva’ot) and establish two new settlement industrial zones (one near the Beitar Illit settlement and one near the Avnei Hefetz settlement).
The total advancement of settlement units in 2018 (January-December) amounted to more than 15,800 units (9,400 units in the West Bank and 6,400 units in East Jerusalem). The figures show a sharp spike in planning for future construction. This development will, over several years, enable potentially more than 60,0001 Israeli settlers to move to the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
According to the PNN, there are currently approximately 215,000 Israelis living in East Jerusalem, while the settler population in Area C in the occupied West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, is some 413,0002 . This brings the settler population to approximately 630,000 Israeli settlers in 143 settlement locations in the West Bank (132) including East Jerusalem (11)3 and 106 outposts.
Settlements are illegal under international law as reaffirmed by UN Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016) and the developments on the ground make the prospect of a two-state solution, with Jerusalem as the future capital of both states, increasingly unattainable.
7 feb 2019
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) kidnapped Thursday afternoon two Palestinian youths at a make-shift checkpoint south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
Locals told PIC reporter that two unidentified youths were arrested after Israeli forces stopped and searched their vehicle at the checkpoint.
The detainees were immediately taken in an Israeli jeep, while their car was confiscated, the sources added.
A second military checkpoint was set up at the entrance to the nearby town of Taanak. Several Palestinians were also stopped and investigated at the scene.
Locals told PIC reporter that two unidentified youths were arrested after Israeli forces stopped and searched their vehicle at the checkpoint.
The detainees were immediately taken in an Israeli jeep, while their car was confiscated, the sources added.
A second military checkpoint was set up at the entrance to the nearby town of Taanak. Several Palestinians were also stopped and investigated at the scene.
The Israeli Authorities demolished, Thursday, the al-Arakib Bedouin Palestinian village, in the Negev, for the 140th consecutive times, after dozens of soldiers and police officers invaded it.
The army, accompanied by bulldozers and machinery, demolished the residential tents and sheds, in addition to all barns, displacing the families along with their children, and leaving them under the rain without shelter.
The residents of al-Arakib said that, despite the pain and the ongoing destruction of their dwelling, they are determined to remain on the lands, and will rebuild their village, as they refuse the Israeli place to displace and relocate them.
There are about 240.000 Palestinains living in dozens of villages and communities in the Negev, but the communities are not recognized by Israel ad are considered illegal, although they predate Israel itself.
Al-Arakib, Umm al-Hiran and Abu Qweider, are among 34 “unrecognized villages” that do not receive any services from Israel and are without basic infra-structure, including running water and electricity.
Meanwhile, Israel continues its plans to established four new colonies in the Negev, as part of the so-called “Negev Development Plan.”
These “unrecognized” villages were established in the Negev soon after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, following the creation of the state of Israel, when an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes and made refugees.
Many Bedouins were forcibly transferred to the village sites during the 17-year period when Palestinians inside Israel were governed under Israeli military law, which ended shortly before Israel’s military takeover of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 1967.
Now, more than 60 years later, the Bedouin villages have yet to be legally recognized by Israel and live under constant threat of demolition and forcible removal.
The army, accompanied by bulldozers and machinery, demolished the residential tents and sheds, in addition to all barns, displacing the families along with their children, and leaving them under the rain without shelter.
The residents of al-Arakib said that, despite the pain and the ongoing destruction of their dwelling, they are determined to remain on the lands, and will rebuild their village, as they refuse the Israeli place to displace and relocate them.
There are about 240.000 Palestinains living in dozens of villages and communities in the Negev, but the communities are not recognized by Israel ad are considered illegal, although they predate Israel itself.
Al-Arakib, Umm al-Hiran and Abu Qweider, are among 34 “unrecognized villages” that do not receive any services from Israel and are without basic infra-structure, including running water and electricity.
Meanwhile, Israel continues its plans to established four new colonies in the Negev, as part of the so-called “Negev Development Plan.”
These “unrecognized” villages were established in the Negev soon after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, following the creation of the state of Israel, when an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes and made refugees.
Many Bedouins were forcibly transferred to the village sites during the 17-year period when Palestinians inside Israel were governed under Israeli military law, which ended shortly before Israel’s military takeover of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 1967.
Now, more than 60 years later, the Bedouin villages have yet to be legally recognized by Israel and live under constant threat of demolition and forcible removal.
The Israeli occupation army on Wednesday displaced dozens of Bedouin families in the Jordan Valley at the pretext of carrying out military drills in their area.
Local sources told a reporter for the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that a large number of Israeli tanks and heavy military vehicles stormed the areas of al-Ras al-Ahmar, al-Mayta, al-Burj and Hammamat al-Maleh in the Jordan Valley at dawn and ordered more than 50 impoverished Bedouin families to leave their homes until five o’clock in the evening.
They added that the troops carried out large-scale exercises in the area and destroyed vast tracts of cultivated land.
Every once in a while, the Israeli army displace Palestinian Bedouin families in the Jordan Valley in order to carry out drills.
Local sources told a reporter for the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that a large number of Israeli tanks and heavy military vehicles stormed the areas of al-Ras al-Ahmar, al-Mayta, al-Burj and Hammamat al-Maleh in the Jordan Valley at dawn and ordered more than 50 impoverished Bedouin families to leave their homes until five o’clock in the evening.
They added that the troops carried out large-scale exercises in the area and destroyed vast tracts of cultivated land.
Every once in a while, the Israeli army displace Palestinian Bedouin families in the Jordan Valley in order to carry out drills.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Wednesday evening kidnapped a Palestinian citizen in al-Khalil and set up makeshift checkpoints in other areas of the West Bank.
According to local sources, Israeli soldiers kidnapped Imad Abu Samra, from Yatta city, and appropriated his car and money he was carrying with him.
In a separate incident, the IOF set up a checkpoint at the junction of Beit Einun, north of al-Khalil, and embarked on intercepting and searching passing vehicles.
The IOF also intensified its presence and deployed several road barriers in different areas of southern Jenin, where soldiers stopped cars and interrogated passengers.
According to local sources, Israeli soldiers kidnapped Imad Abu Samra, from Yatta city, and appropriated his car and money he was carrying with him.
In a separate incident, the IOF set up a checkpoint at the junction of Beit Einun, north of al-Khalil, and embarked on intercepting and searching passing vehicles.
The IOF also intensified its presence and deployed several road barriers in different areas of southern Jenin, where soldiers stopped cars and interrogated passengers.
