4 dec 2019
The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements stated, in its latest weekly report , that the Israeli Housing Ministry and the Israeli Occupation Municipality in Jerusalem have launched a large settlement scheme aim toward the construction of 11,000 settlement units on Qalandia’s airport lands in order to expand the Attarot settlement, and in an attempt to impose sovereignty on occupied Jerusalem, and to separate it from its Palestinian surroundings, as well.
PNN notes that the Qalandia airport has been closed, by Israeli authorities, since the outbreak of the second Intifada, in the year 2000.
During the past few weeks, the Israeli government has started building 176 settlement units in the illegal Nof Zion settlement, located on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, to the south of the occupied Jerusalem. With the completion of these units, Nof Zion will have about 550 housing units (i.e., the largest settlement in the Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem).
The above mentioned land was legally disputed, but was finally taken by Israeli businessman Rami Levy, along with Australian Jewish businessman and Skype founder Kevin Bermeister. It was said that the current construction is in its first stage, and the second stage of the project includes 2 plans to build 350 housing units, a hotel, and an air train.
For his part, human rights activist Ra’ed Bashir, from Jerusalem, disclosed the existence of 3 projects in the Masarra neighborhood of occupied Jerusalem, where a fundamental change in its commercial features was implemented by transferring the Square, located opposite of the shops, to a public park. The plan also involves extending the adjacent tunnel until it reaches the Hebron Gate. Thus, the municipality submitted project number 77679-04-101, called the Completion of the Tunnel, which seizes 44 dunams, including the opening of an underground tunnel from Hebron to Masarra, in order to transform the open area into a transportation network station.
The legal office revealed that the occupation municipality is currently preparing a structural plan under number 0465229-101, starting from Sultan Suleiman Street up to the Masrara neighborhood, including several residential and all commercial neighborhoods in the city. The project covers an area of 700 dunams and is planned to serve as an alternative to the traditional commercial centers in Arab Jerusalem.
It is noted that the number of settlement units which have been built during the past 10 years has risen to nearly 20,000 units, according to data published by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, whereas a total of 19,634 housing units have been built in the last decade, nearly half of them in isolated settlements. In terms of distribution, the survey showed that 60% of the buildings (i.e., 11,628 units) were built in small settlements containing a population of no more than 10,000.
The rest of the units were built in large blocs such as Ariel, near Salfit and consisting of about 1,718 units, and Givat Ze’ev settlement, to the north of Jerusalem, consisting of about 1,283 units, while the settlement of Modi’in Illit contains about 2,310 housing units. Moreover, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to transfer some NIS 40,000,000 as a “gift” to settlers, because they supported him.
On the other hand, Israeli authorities have imposed new restrictions on the entry of Palestinians to their agricultural lands, in areas named by them as a focal-point located between the Apartheid Wall and the “Green Line,” estimated at 140,000 dunams. The Israeli Civil Administration issued permits to allow Palestinians to enter their lands, knowing that Israeli authorities rejected 72% of the permits in 2018, as compared to 24% in 2014.
Meanwhile, during the UNs’ annual celebration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which correspondences with 29 November of each year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asserted that the establishment of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, has no legality. It is a flagrant violation of international law, as stated in UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which calls for a halt to the construction of settlements, an end to the demolition of Palestinian homes, and the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
As for Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said, yesterday, that negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis is still possible, warning that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem constitute an obstacle to peace, contradict international law, and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible.
PNN notes that the Qalandia airport has been closed, by Israeli authorities, since the outbreak of the second Intifada, in the year 2000.
During the past few weeks, the Israeli government has started building 176 settlement units in the illegal Nof Zion settlement, located on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, to the south of the occupied Jerusalem. With the completion of these units, Nof Zion will have about 550 housing units (i.e., the largest settlement in the Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem).
The above mentioned land was legally disputed, but was finally taken by Israeli businessman Rami Levy, along with Australian Jewish businessman and Skype founder Kevin Bermeister. It was said that the current construction is in its first stage, and the second stage of the project includes 2 plans to build 350 housing units, a hotel, and an air train.
For his part, human rights activist Ra’ed Bashir, from Jerusalem, disclosed the existence of 3 projects in the Masarra neighborhood of occupied Jerusalem, where a fundamental change in its commercial features was implemented by transferring the Square, located opposite of the shops, to a public park. The plan also involves extending the adjacent tunnel until it reaches the Hebron Gate. Thus, the municipality submitted project number 77679-04-101, called the Completion of the Tunnel, which seizes 44 dunams, including the opening of an underground tunnel from Hebron to Masarra, in order to transform the open area into a transportation network station.
The legal office revealed that the occupation municipality is currently preparing a structural plan under number 0465229-101, starting from Sultan Suleiman Street up to the Masrara neighborhood, including several residential and all commercial neighborhoods in the city. The project covers an area of 700 dunams and is planned to serve as an alternative to the traditional commercial centers in Arab Jerusalem.
It is noted that the number of settlement units which have been built during the past 10 years has risen to nearly 20,000 units, according to data published by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, whereas a total of 19,634 housing units have been built in the last decade, nearly half of them in isolated settlements. In terms of distribution, the survey showed that 60% of the buildings (i.e., 11,628 units) were built in small settlements containing a population of no more than 10,000.
The rest of the units were built in large blocs such as Ariel, near Salfit and consisting of about 1,718 units, and Givat Ze’ev settlement, to the north of Jerusalem, consisting of about 1,283 units, while the settlement of Modi’in Illit contains about 2,310 housing units. Moreover, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to transfer some NIS 40,000,000 as a “gift” to settlers, because they supported him.
On the other hand, Israeli authorities have imposed new restrictions on the entry of Palestinians to their agricultural lands, in areas named by them as a focal-point located between the Apartheid Wall and the “Green Line,” estimated at 140,000 dunams. The Israeli Civil Administration issued permits to allow Palestinians to enter their lands, knowing that Israeli authorities rejected 72% of the permits in 2018, as compared to 24% in 2014.
Meanwhile, during the UNs’ annual celebration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which correspondences with 29 November of each year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asserted that the establishment of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, has no legality. It is a flagrant violation of international law, as stated in UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which calls for a halt to the construction of settlements, an end to the demolition of Palestinian homes, and the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
As for Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said, yesterday, that negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis is still possible, warning that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem constitute an obstacle to peace, contradict international law, and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible.
3 dec 2019
Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, on Monday, expressed his government’s grave concern about the planned American and Israeli projects in the besieged Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank, the Palestinian News and Info Agency reported.
“The government views with great concern and follows the news coming from the Gaza Strip about projects and plans in the framework of the implementation of the deal of the century, and corresponds to the plans announced by (US president’s senior advisor) Jared Kushner at the Manama workshop last June,” said PM Shtayyeh, speaking at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting held in Ramallah.
“The American hospital declared to be implemented on the borders of Gaza, industrial cities, ports and floating islands embody the American plan that refuses to deal with the political demands and the national rights of the Palestinian people,” he added.
“These projects and schemes, which are an outcome of the deal of the century, aim at eliminating the Palestinian national project,” he said.
Shtayyeh stressed his government’s rejection of all Israeli settlement plans, especially in the cities of Jerusalem and Hebron, and called upon the international community to take immediate measures against such plans.
“The new settlement project in Hebron’s wholesale market confirms Israel’s insistence on direct collision as it implements a destructive scheme with broad political objectives,” he said, pointing out that these plans come while settlers are escalating their violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank under Israeli army protection and command.
He pointed out that “the timing of these projects coincides with talk about elections and the restoration of national unity, and comes while Gaza is under siege and under the slogan of improving conditions, but the fact remains that these projects perpetuate the status quo in the Gaza Strip, deviate the compass from national unity and strike at the foundations of the Palestinian national project.”
Shtayyeh stressed the need to end the intra-Palestinian division by holding the general elections.
“The government views with great concern and follows the news coming from the Gaza Strip about projects and plans in the framework of the implementation of the deal of the century, and corresponds to the plans announced by (US president’s senior advisor) Jared Kushner at the Manama workshop last June,” said PM Shtayyeh, speaking at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting held in Ramallah.
“The American hospital declared to be implemented on the borders of Gaza, industrial cities, ports and floating islands embody the American plan that refuses to deal with the political demands and the national rights of the Palestinian people,” he added.
“These projects and schemes, which are an outcome of the deal of the century, aim at eliminating the Palestinian national project,” he said.
Shtayyeh stressed his government’s rejection of all Israeli settlement plans, especially in the cities of Jerusalem and Hebron, and called upon the international community to take immediate measures against such plans.
“The new settlement project in Hebron’s wholesale market confirms Israel’s insistence on direct collision as it implements a destructive scheme with broad political objectives,” he said, pointing out that these plans come while settlers are escalating their violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank under Israeli army protection and command.
He pointed out that “the timing of these projects coincides with talk about elections and the restoration of national unity, and comes while Gaza is under siege and under the slogan of improving conditions, but the fact remains that these projects perpetuate the status quo in the Gaza Strip, deviate the compass from national unity and strike at the foundations of the Palestinian national project.”
Shtayyeh stressed the need to end the intra-Palestinian division by holding the general elections.
Azzam al-Ahmad, member of Fatah Central Committee and the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said that plans to establish an American field hospital in the Gaza Strip is part of the Zionist-American schemes to isolate Gaza and establish a micro-state there.
Al-Ahmad said that this plan is part of the [Israeli] occupation forces’ plans to provide all the factors of survival for the de-facto authority in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian News and Info Agency reported.
In an interview with voice of Palestine radio, al-Ahmad said that the conspiracy against the Palestinian cause has long existed, but has intensified since the internal division 13 years ago, pointing out that this division is not merely Palestinian, but rather an Arab, regional, and international division.
Al-Ahmad said that Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that it is important to keep the division to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, stressing that Hamas is well aware of the risks and is going along with it, noting that direct contacts with Hamas movement have been cut off since 2017.
He reiterated the leadership’s rejection of these liquidating projects, stressing that no one has the right to transfer anything to the Palestinian territory without the consent of the legitimate leadership of the Palestinian people, the PLO; the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
Al-Ahmad said that this plan is part of the [Israeli] occupation forces’ plans to provide all the factors of survival for the de-facto authority in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian News and Info Agency reported.
In an interview with voice of Palestine radio, al-Ahmad said that the conspiracy against the Palestinian cause has long existed, but has intensified since the internal division 13 years ago, pointing out that this division is not merely Palestinian, but rather an Arab, regional, and international division.
Al-Ahmad said that Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that it is important to keep the division to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, stressing that Hamas is well aware of the risks and is going along with it, noting that direct contacts with Hamas movement have been cut off since 2017.
He reiterated the leadership’s rejection of these liquidating projects, stressing that no one has the right to transfer anything to the Palestinian territory without the consent of the legitimate leadership of the Palestinian people, the PLO; the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
2 dec 2019
Palestinian Minister of Health, Mai al-Kaila, vehemently criticized and rejected the establishment of a US field military hospital in the northern Gaza Strip under the sponsorship of Hamas and the Israeli occupation, the Palestinian News and Info Agency (WAFA) reported.
Speaking on ‘Voice of Palestine’ radio, al-Kaila stated that the ministry knows nothing about this hospital except for what was circulated through media; that it is a field military hospital that used to operate in Syria and is now being moved to the northern Gaza Strip.
All national factions oppose this plan, and consider the plan is a suspicious move with political intentions, rather than therapeutic goals. “We reject the establishment of this hospital, which falls within the framework of the “deal of the century,” said the health minister.
She stressed that the ministry does not know who will run the hospital, which she slammed as an advanced US-Israeli military fortress inside the Gaza Strip.
“The media blackout about the construction of this hospital raises many big questions about its real goals.” – Palestinian Health Minister, Mai al-Kaila.
She said that nothing justifies the establishment of the military field hospital, especially that all the population of the Gaza Strip enjoy a free health insurance entitling them to all of the Ministry’s services, including referrals to hospitals in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Egypt.
“Every year, the Ministry [of Health] sends medications and medical supplies worth 60 million shekels to the Gaza Strip.
Therefore, there is no need for this US military hospital, where US military and not doctors will be working,” al-Kaila added.
“If America wants to help our people in the Gaza Strip, it should have supported UNRWA, rather than cutting aid to this international institution. There is a big question mark about this hospital, which is in line with the deal of the century.” – Palestinian Health Minister, Mai al-Kaila
Al-Kaila called upon the Palestinian factions and people in the Gaza Strip to unite efforts to thwart the construction of this military field hospital, stressing that the ministry will not leave the health of its people in Gaza in any hands.
Speaking on ‘Voice of Palestine’ radio, al-Kaila stated that the ministry knows nothing about this hospital except for what was circulated through media; that it is a field military hospital that used to operate in Syria and is now being moved to the northern Gaza Strip.
All national factions oppose this plan, and consider the plan is a suspicious move with political intentions, rather than therapeutic goals. “We reject the establishment of this hospital, which falls within the framework of the “deal of the century,” said the health minister.
She stressed that the ministry does not know who will run the hospital, which she slammed as an advanced US-Israeli military fortress inside the Gaza Strip.
“The media blackout about the construction of this hospital raises many big questions about its real goals.” – Palestinian Health Minister, Mai al-Kaila.
She said that nothing justifies the establishment of the military field hospital, especially that all the population of the Gaza Strip enjoy a free health insurance entitling them to all of the Ministry’s services, including referrals to hospitals in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Egypt.
“Every year, the Ministry [of Health] sends medications and medical supplies worth 60 million shekels to the Gaza Strip.
Therefore, there is no need for this US military hospital, where US military and not doctors will be working,” al-Kaila added.
“If America wants to help our people in the Gaza Strip, it should have supported UNRWA, rather than cutting aid to this international institution. There is a big question mark about this hospital, which is in line with the deal of the century.” – Palestinian Health Minister, Mai al-Kaila
Al-Kaila called upon the Palestinian factions and people in the Gaza Strip to unite efforts to thwart the construction of this military field hospital, stressing that the ministry will not leave the health of its people in Gaza in any hands.
1 dec 2019
Israel's war minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday gave the green light for the construction of a new settler neighborhood in al-Khalil, the occupied West Bank.
Israeli media sources reported that the new neighborhood is set to create a settler community between the Ibrahimi Mosque and Avraham Avinu neighborhood, and thus doubling the number of settlers in al-Khalil.
The construction of the new neighborhood will entail the demolition of several Palestinian buildings.
The United Nations Security Council on 23 December 2016 adopted Resolution 2334 which called for an immediate halt to the settlement construction activity in the Palestinian territories.
However, the US has announced lately that it no longer considers the settlement construction a violation of international law.
Israeli media sources reported that the new neighborhood is set to create a settler community between the Ibrahimi Mosque and Avraham Avinu neighborhood, and thus doubling the number of settlers in al-Khalil.
The construction of the new neighborhood will entail the demolition of several Palestinian buildings.
The United Nations Security Council on 23 December 2016 adopted Resolution 2334 which called for an immediate halt to the settlement construction activity in the Palestinian territories.
However, the US has announced lately that it no longer considers the settlement construction a violation of international law.
Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, stated, on Thursday, that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank threaten to make a two-state solution impossible, the Palestine News Network reported.
“Settlement activity in East Jerusalem seriously jeopardizes the possibility of Jerusalem serving as the future capital of both states,” she said during a speech at the European Parliament general debate on the situation in Israel and Palestine.
“Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory are illegal under international law; they constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible,” Mogherini remarked.
She continued, “There will not be peace without a strong political commitment by both sides and by the international community. On the European Union side, we have always been and we will continue to be ready to support, to encourage, to accompany all efforts to build peace and security and a negotiated two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.”
“Yet we should all know that the two-state solution remains, I am profoundly convinced of this, the best and the only realistic chance for peace and also for security in the Holy Places.”
More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.
Less than a month before Trump took office, the United Nations Security Council in December 2016 adopted Resolution 2334, calling on Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem”.
Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem (al-Quds) as its capital. The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014.
Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel’s continued settlement expansion on Palestinian territories.
“Settlement activity in East Jerusalem seriously jeopardizes the possibility of Jerusalem serving as the future capital of both states,” she said during a speech at the European Parliament general debate on the situation in Israel and Palestine.
“Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory are illegal under international law; they constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible,” Mogherini remarked.
She continued, “There will not be peace without a strong political commitment by both sides and by the international community. On the European Union side, we have always been and we will continue to be ready to support, to encourage, to accompany all efforts to build peace and security and a negotiated two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.”
“Yet we should all know that the two-state solution remains, I am profoundly convinced of this, the best and the only realistic chance for peace and also for security in the Holy Places.”
More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.
Less than a month before Trump took office, the United Nations Security Council in December 2016 adopted Resolution 2334, calling on Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem”.
Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem (al-Quds) as its capital. The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014.
Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel’s continued settlement expansion on Palestinian territories.
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