29 may 2014
Palestinians in the village of Kufr al-Deek in the northern occupied West Bank awoke on Sunday to see Israeli earth-movers busily flattening the top of a nearby hill. Locals say it is their privately-owned land and that the Israeli government is preparing to build a new Jewish settlement outpost there.
They fear it will help consolidate a bloc of Israeli towns, plunging almost halfway into the occupied territory, which they say will deny them a viable future state.
"(Israel) wants to link up their colonies, from Ariel to the coast and they need our land to do it," said villager Ismail Taha, hoarse from shouting at the dozens of Israeli soldiers who prevented him and other residents from reaching the work site on Monday.
They say a pair of settlers began squatting on the hillside last week and fear it will be the nucleus of a new community.
"It's stealing, and we have no means to defend ourselves. While they have biased courts, police and an army, we have no money and no power. We're peaceful, but over our dead bodies will they succeed in taking our land," Taha said.
Twin corridors of around two dozen Jewish settlements housing almost 50,000 settlers extend between the settlement city of Ariel's 20,000 residents and Israel's coastal plain.
Israel and the United States believe the communities in the Ariel settlement bloc, founded mostly in the 1980s, are now too large and well-established to be evacuated in any future peace agreement - a prospect rendered even more distant by the collapse of U.S.-backed peace talks with the Palestinians last month amid mutual blame.
Palestinian officials have entertained the idea for swapping those lands for others in Israel during closed-door negotiations, but publicly say that they are entitled to a state in all of Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem - lands Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
The settlers, who number well over half a million in total, cite religious and cultural ties to the land.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Ariel area, which he calls the "Tel Aviv suburbs," and other settlement blocs around Jerusalem and Bethlehem will stay put.
Peace Now, an Israeli watchdog group, said Netanyahu's government had advanced plans to build almost 14,000 new settler homes on occupied land in the 9-month period of peace talks which began last July.
The International Court of Justice deems the settlements illegal. While the European Union has said it "deplores" them and the United States calls them "illegitimate," countries have taken few obvious steps to slow their spread.
"STATE LAND"
Israel has declared the 300-dunam (74-acre) tract traversed with olive trees and dirt paths "state land," a label it has applied to much of the other lands upon which settlements and their connected farming lands have been historically built.
"The present case refers to declared state lands on which approved works are taking place lately for the agricultural development of the region. The works are under constant supervision and monitoring," the Israeli government body responsible for the occupied West Bank told Reuters.
Residents of Kufr al-Deek and other villages disagree with the "state land" claim and say settlement activity is expanding.
They point out ruined Palestinian cisterns and modest homes on the hill they say Israeli forces demolished in recent months. Looking out on the horizon, the string of nearby settlements appear to be growing, with a whole hillside next to one being flattened ahead of apparent planned construction and settler portacabins pouring down the hillside of another.
"Kufr al-Deek is 300 years old and look how small it is. Just one of the settlements there, built in 1985, is already twice its size. Tell me, where can we build our state?" villager Ahmed Ali said.
They fear it will help consolidate a bloc of Israeli towns, plunging almost halfway into the occupied territory, which they say will deny them a viable future state.
"(Israel) wants to link up their colonies, from Ariel to the coast and they need our land to do it," said villager Ismail Taha, hoarse from shouting at the dozens of Israeli soldiers who prevented him and other residents from reaching the work site on Monday.
They say a pair of settlers began squatting on the hillside last week and fear it will be the nucleus of a new community.
"It's stealing, and we have no means to defend ourselves. While they have biased courts, police and an army, we have no money and no power. We're peaceful, but over our dead bodies will they succeed in taking our land," Taha said.
Twin corridors of around two dozen Jewish settlements housing almost 50,000 settlers extend between the settlement city of Ariel's 20,000 residents and Israel's coastal plain.
Israel and the United States believe the communities in the Ariel settlement bloc, founded mostly in the 1980s, are now too large and well-established to be evacuated in any future peace agreement - a prospect rendered even more distant by the collapse of U.S.-backed peace talks with the Palestinians last month amid mutual blame.
Palestinian officials have entertained the idea for swapping those lands for others in Israel during closed-door negotiations, but publicly say that they are entitled to a state in all of Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem - lands Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
The settlers, who number well over half a million in total, cite religious and cultural ties to the land.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Ariel area, which he calls the "Tel Aviv suburbs," and other settlement blocs around Jerusalem and Bethlehem will stay put.
Peace Now, an Israeli watchdog group, said Netanyahu's government had advanced plans to build almost 14,000 new settler homes on occupied land in the 9-month period of peace talks which began last July.
The International Court of Justice deems the settlements illegal. While the European Union has said it "deplores" them and the United States calls them "illegitimate," countries have taken few obvious steps to slow their spread.
"STATE LAND"
Israel has declared the 300-dunam (74-acre) tract traversed with olive trees and dirt paths "state land," a label it has applied to much of the other lands upon which settlements and their connected farming lands have been historically built.
"The present case refers to declared state lands on which approved works are taking place lately for the agricultural development of the region. The works are under constant supervision and monitoring," the Israeli government body responsible for the occupied West Bank told Reuters.
Residents of Kufr al-Deek and other villages disagree with the "state land" claim and say settlement activity is expanding.
They point out ruined Palestinian cisterns and modest homes on the hill they say Israeli forces demolished in recent months. Looking out on the horizon, the string of nearby settlements appear to be growing, with a whole hillside next to one being flattened ahead of apparent planned construction and settler portacabins pouring down the hillside of another.
"Kufr al-Deek is 300 years old and look how small it is. Just one of the settlements there, built in 1985, is already twice its size. Tell me, where can we build our state?" villager Ahmed Ali said.
28 may 2014
Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu expressed his absolute rejection to divide the occupied city of Jerusalem. "Jerusalem is the heart of the nation of Israel." Israeli PM said.
The statement came during a festival held to commemorate the 47th anniversary of the 1976 Middle East war.
Israel occupied Jerusalem (Al-Quds) during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state.
Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel, for his part, stressed he would not accept settlement freeze activities in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
“New housing units are being built in Jerusalem,” He revealed, pointing out that festive sessions will be held by the Israeli Knesset and the Israeli cabinet.
Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestine are the Jewish civilian communities built on lands occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and in the Golan Heights.
Israeli settlement expansion has continued unabated, despite being condemned by almost all other nations and the UN.
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu expressed his absolute rejection to divide the occupied city of Jerusalem. "Jerusalem is the heart of the nation of Israel." Israeli PM said.
The statement came during a festival held to commemorate the 47th anniversary of the 1976 Middle East war.
Israel occupied Jerusalem (Al-Quds) during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state.
Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel, for his part, stressed he would not accept settlement freeze activities in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
“New housing units are being built in Jerusalem,” He revealed, pointing out that festive sessions will be held by the Israeli Knesset and the Israeli cabinet.
Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestine are the Jewish civilian communities built on lands occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and in the Golan Heights.
Israeli settlement expansion has continued unabated, despite being condemned by almost all other nations and the UN.
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Israeli Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Eli Ben-Dahan put Tuesday evening the foundation stone for a new Jewish synagogue called “Jewel of Israel” in the heart of the occupied city of Jerusalem during the Jewish festivals of “al-Quds Day”.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site. Jews refer to the area as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two prominent Jewish temples in ancient times. Several Israeli politicians and religious figures attended the ceremony such as: Nir Brakhat, the mayor of Jerusalem municipality, Rabbie Yisrael Ariel, the director of the “Temple Mount Institute” and Shmuel Rbenovic, Rabbi of the” Western Wall”. |
Ariel expressed his desire to impose absolute sovereignty over al-Aqsa mosque, saying: “today, we have put another block of the building blocks of Jerusalem. This symbolic step aims to achieve the largest goal. Jerusalem is the heart of the nation.”
“We will continue building in all parts of the country particularly in Jerusalem,” he added, claiming that Jerusalem city is their holy city forever.
Israel occupied Al-Quds during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state.
“We will continue building in all parts of the country particularly in Jerusalem,” he added, claiming that Jerusalem city is their holy city forever.
Israel occupied Al-Quds during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the holy city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state.
27 may 2014
Israeli authorities plan to establish a foundation corner for a large synagogue that will be built in the middle of the Old City of Jerusalem, about 200 meters from the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The synagogue will be called “The Jewel of Israel,” according to the Al-Aqsa Foundation.
The statement said there would be celebrations in which Israeli political and religious leaders will participate including Israel's Jerusalem mayor, Nir Brakat, housing minister Uri Ariel and deputy religious services minister Eli Ben Dahan.
The foundation said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government had provided funding for construction of the synagogue with a budget of 50 million NIS set to be approved Wednesday.
“Israel plans to Judaise the entire Old City of Jerusalem and to attract Jewish and foreign tourists,” the foundations said.
It added that the building will have a space of 378 square meters, 275 of which will be used for the synagogue and 103 as a public park for the entrance of the synagogue.
The whole building space will be 1,400 square meters, it said.
The foundation, which is in charge of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, had said earlier that various Israeli nationalist organizations were calling for a march through the compound on Wednesday.
Thousands of Israeli Jews will attend, the organization said, adding that police would close roads in East Jerusalem during the march.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld tweeted: "Police complete security assessments for tomorrow's "Jerusalem day" celebrations. Hundreds of officers will be involved in security measures."
Jerusalem Day is a national holiday in Israel celebrating what Israelis call the reunification of the city. The day is marked by marches through the Old City of Jerusalem by right-wing activists.
For Palestinians and the international community, East Jerusalem is considered occupied territory.
Earlier, police escorted Jewish groups through the Al-Aqsa compound, witnesses said. Some 72 Israeli Jews entered the compound as Palestinians chanted "Allahu Akbar."
Rosenfeld tweeted: "Stones thrown at visiting group on Temple Mount by Arabs. Policeman at scene injured lightly. Visits continue regularly. Situation calm."
Israeli forces regularly escort Jewish visitors to the compound, leading to tension with Palestinian worshipers.
Al-Aqsa is located in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian territories that have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.
The synagogue will be called “The Jewel of Israel,” according to the Al-Aqsa Foundation.
The statement said there would be celebrations in which Israeli political and religious leaders will participate including Israel's Jerusalem mayor, Nir Brakat, housing minister Uri Ariel and deputy religious services minister Eli Ben Dahan.
The foundation said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government had provided funding for construction of the synagogue with a budget of 50 million NIS set to be approved Wednesday.
“Israel plans to Judaise the entire Old City of Jerusalem and to attract Jewish and foreign tourists,” the foundations said.
It added that the building will have a space of 378 square meters, 275 of which will be used for the synagogue and 103 as a public park for the entrance of the synagogue.
The whole building space will be 1,400 square meters, it said.
The foundation, which is in charge of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, had said earlier that various Israeli nationalist organizations were calling for a march through the compound on Wednesday.
Thousands of Israeli Jews will attend, the organization said, adding that police would close roads in East Jerusalem during the march.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld tweeted: "Police complete security assessments for tomorrow's "Jerusalem day" celebrations. Hundreds of officers will be involved in security measures."
Jerusalem Day is a national holiday in Israel celebrating what Israelis call the reunification of the city. The day is marked by marches through the Old City of Jerusalem by right-wing activists.
For Palestinians and the international community, East Jerusalem is considered occupied territory.
Earlier, police escorted Jewish groups through the Al-Aqsa compound, witnesses said. Some 72 Israeli Jews entered the compound as Palestinians chanted "Allahu Akbar."
Rosenfeld tweeted: "Stones thrown at visiting group on Temple Mount by Arabs. Policeman at scene injured lightly. Visits continue regularly. Situation calm."
Israeli forces regularly escort Jewish visitors to the compound, leading to tension with Palestinian worshipers.
Al-Aqsa is located in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian territories that have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.
East Jerusalem settlement of Har Homa
Nabil Abu-Rudeineh, the spokesmen for the Palestinian president's office, condemned Monday a decision by the municipality of Jerusalem to build 50 new housing units in the settlement of Har Homa, on Jabal Abu Ghneim south of Jerusalem.
Abu-Rudeineh considered this decision an "uncivilized and irrational" response to Pope Francis’ visit to the Holy Land and his prayers at the Separation Wall, which separates Har Homa from the nearby city of Bethlehem, located within the 1967 borders.
The construction was approved as Pope Francis wrapped up a visit to the region. It was the first announcement to build in settlements since the collapse last month of the U.S.-brokered peace negotiations.
Palestinian and U.S. officials claim negotiations collapsed due an unrelenting flow of Israeli announcements of construction in settlements. U.S. special envoy to the Middle East peace talks, Martin Indyk, condemned Israel's settlement activity in the West Bank during a review of the nine month negotiations at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy founders' conference on May 8.
"Rampant settlement activity - especially in the midst of negotiations - doesn’t just undermine Palestinian trust in the purpose of the negotiations; it can undermine Israel’s Jewish future," Indyk said.
Figures quoted by Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now show that during the nine months of talks, Israel approved plans for nearly 14,000 new settler homes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that both U.S. and Palestinian negotiators knew Israel would continue settlement construction during negotiations. Moreover, the Israeli prime minister said that hypocrites criticize settlement construction but keep quiet when Jews are murdered.
"There are elements in Europe that rush to condemn the construction of a flat in Jerusalem but who do not rush to condemn, or offer only a weak condemnation of the murder of Jews here or in Europe itself," Netanyahu said.
"Even worse, they applaud unity with terror groups like Hamas, which calls for the destruction of Israel," he added, referring to Europe’s welcoming of an intra-Palestinian reconciliation agreement between leaders in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Nabil Abu-Rudeineh, the spokesmen for the Palestinian president's office, condemned Monday a decision by the municipality of Jerusalem to build 50 new housing units in the settlement of Har Homa, on Jabal Abu Ghneim south of Jerusalem.
Abu-Rudeineh considered this decision an "uncivilized and irrational" response to Pope Francis’ visit to the Holy Land and his prayers at the Separation Wall, which separates Har Homa from the nearby city of Bethlehem, located within the 1967 borders.
The construction was approved as Pope Francis wrapped up a visit to the region. It was the first announcement to build in settlements since the collapse last month of the U.S.-brokered peace negotiations.
Palestinian and U.S. officials claim negotiations collapsed due an unrelenting flow of Israeli announcements of construction in settlements. U.S. special envoy to the Middle East peace talks, Martin Indyk, condemned Israel's settlement activity in the West Bank during a review of the nine month negotiations at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy founders' conference on May 8.
"Rampant settlement activity - especially in the midst of negotiations - doesn’t just undermine Palestinian trust in the purpose of the negotiations; it can undermine Israel’s Jewish future," Indyk said.
Figures quoted by Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now show that during the nine months of talks, Israel approved plans for nearly 14,000 new settler homes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that both U.S. and Palestinian negotiators knew Israel would continue settlement construction during negotiations. Moreover, the Israeli prime minister said that hypocrites criticize settlement construction but keep quiet when Jews are murdered.
"There are elements in Europe that rush to condemn the construction of a flat in Jerusalem but who do not rush to condemn, or offer only a weak condemnation of the murder of Jews here or in Europe itself," Netanyahu said.
"Even worse, they applaud unity with terror groups like Hamas, which calls for the destruction of Israel," he added, referring to Europe’s welcoming of an intra-Palestinian reconciliation agreement between leaders in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
26 may 2014
Israel on Monday approved plans for 50 new settler homes in annexed East Jerusalem as Pope Francis wrapped up a visit to the region, city officials said.
"The municipality has given the green light to build 50 new housing units in five buildings in Har Homa," city Councillor Yosef Pepe Alalu told AFP.
Har Homa is a settlement neighborhood in the southern sector of East Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War then annexed, in a move not recognized by the international community.
The settlement was built in 1997 on a wooded hill top known as Jabal Abu Ghneim.
It was the first such announcement of Israeli plans to build on land seized in 1967 since the collapse last month of the US-led peace talks.
The talks had struggled to make headway due to an unrelenting flow of Israeli settlement announcements, which were roundly condemned by the PLO and international community.
Figures quoted by Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now show that during the nine months of talks, Israel approved plans for nearly 14,000 new settler homes.
The last time Israel pushed plans for new construction was on April 1 with the re-issuing of tenders for more than 700 new homes in Gilo in East Jerusalem.
The PLO has said they will not return to the crisis-hit talks without a complete settlement freeze.
But Israel has flatly refused, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejecting the notion that settlement building ran counter to peace efforts, saying he never agreed to any "restraints on construction" throughout the talks.
"The municipality has given the green light to build 50 new housing units in five buildings in Har Homa," city Councillor Yosef Pepe Alalu told AFP.
Har Homa is a settlement neighborhood in the southern sector of East Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War then annexed, in a move not recognized by the international community.
The settlement was built in 1997 on a wooded hill top known as Jabal Abu Ghneim.
It was the first such announcement of Israeli plans to build on land seized in 1967 since the collapse last month of the US-led peace talks.
The talks had struggled to make headway due to an unrelenting flow of Israeli settlement announcements, which were roundly condemned by the PLO and international community.
Figures quoted by Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now show that during the nine months of talks, Israel approved plans for nearly 14,000 new settler homes.
The last time Israel pushed plans for new construction was on April 1 with the re-issuing of tenders for more than 700 new homes in Gilo in East Jerusalem.
The PLO has said they will not return to the crisis-hit talks without a complete settlement freeze.
But Israel has flatly refused, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejecting the notion that settlement building ran counter to peace efforts, saying he never agreed to any "restraints on construction" throughout the talks.
18 may 2014
Israel's ultra-nationalist construction minister – whose actions have been blamed by some US officials for torpedoing the peace process – has predicted an explosion of settlement activity in the next five years on the occupied West Bank. Uri Ariel, a member of the hardline Jewish Home party, which is part of Binyamin Netanyahu's rightwing coalition government, predicted in a radio interview on Friday that the number of settlers could grow by 50% by 2019.
The US special envoy to the Middle East peace talks, Martin Indyk, recently cited "rampant settlement activity" as a key factor in the breakdown of the talks last month.
During the nine months of failed peacemaking, Ariel published tenders for settlement construction that were cited by the US as having contributed to the impasse by convincing the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, that Netanyahu was not serious about reaching an accord.
Most controversially, Ariel was accused of re-announcing an old tender to build 700 more housing units in East Jerusalem in the midst of frantic last-minute efforts to salvage the talks, condemning them to collapse.
Palestinians want the West Bank as part of their future state and blamed settlement expansions for the breakdown last month of US-mediated peace talks with Israel – a position supported in part by Washington, but rejected by the Israelis.
Ariel told the Tel Aviv radio station 102 FM that negotiations on Palestinian statehood were in their "dying throes".
"I think that in five years there will be 550,000 or 600,000 Jews in Judea and Samaria, rather than 400,000 [now]," he said, using a biblical term for the West Bank.
About 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas which, along with the Gaza Strip, Israel captured in a 1967 war.
Jewish Home opposes Palestinian statehood altogether, raising speculation in Israel that Netanyahu, in the unlikely event of a diplomatic breakthrough, would eject the party from his coalition.
On Friday thousands of Palestinians turned out to bury two youths shot and killed by Israeli soldiers a day earlier during protests to commemorate the 66th anniversary of the Nakba, or "catastrophe" of the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians in 1948.
The two youths were shot in the chest while protesting near Israel's Ofer prison, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah.
The Guardian
The US special envoy to the Middle East peace talks, Martin Indyk, recently cited "rampant settlement activity" as a key factor in the breakdown of the talks last month.
During the nine months of failed peacemaking, Ariel published tenders for settlement construction that were cited by the US as having contributed to the impasse by convincing the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, that Netanyahu was not serious about reaching an accord.
Most controversially, Ariel was accused of re-announcing an old tender to build 700 more housing units in East Jerusalem in the midst of frantic last-minute efforts to salvage the talks, condemning them to collapse.
Palestinians want the West Bank as part of their future state and blamed settlement expansions for the breakdown last month of US-mediated peace talks with Israel – a position supported in part by Washington, but rejected by the Israelis.
Ariel told the Tel Aviv radio station 102 FM that negotiations on Palestinian statehood were in their "dying throes".
"I think that in five years there will be 550,000 or 600,000 Jews in Judea and Samaria, rather than 400,000 [now]," he said, using a biblical term for the West Bank.
About 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas which, along with the Gaza Strip, Israel captured in a 1967 war.
Jewish Home opposes Palestinian statehood altogether, raising speculation in Israel that Netanyahu, in the unlikely event of a diplomatic breakthrough, would eject the party from his coalition.
On Friday thousands of Palestinians turned out to bury two youths shot and killed by Israeli soldiers a day earlier during protests to commemorate the 66th anniversary of the Nakba, or "catastrophe" of the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians in 1948.
The two youths were shot in the chest while protesting near Israel's Ofer prison, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah.
The Guardian
12 may 2014
The so-called Israeli Jordan Valley Regional Council has continued to implement its 10-year plan to triple its population to help impose a status quo so that the Jordan Valley won’t be handed over to the Palestinians in any future settlement, according to Hebrew media sources. Jerusalem Post newspaper said on Sunday that regional council head David Elhayani ordered to issue tenders for the Israeli advertising companies to attract the Israelis to reside in the Valley.
"Elhayani decided to embark on a massive campaign to physically build up his largely agrarian community and to publicize it among the Israeli public. He hired a public relations firm, Peer Levin, opened an internet campaign, created a song and a logo, and appointed people in each of his 21 settlements to come up with a plan to absorb new families," the newspaper added.
On Thursday, at the Jordan Valley Conference, the treasurer of his council, Orit Artsiely, told the audience that the valley’s population of 4,509 in 2013 would grow to 15,000 within 10 years, the newspaper continued.
The sources pointed out that "the council was in the midst of a two-year building plan for 825 new homes that had already been approved."
"Elhayani decided to embark on a massive campaign to physically build up his largely agrarian community and to publicize it among the Israeli public. He hired a public relations firm, Peer Levin, opened an internet campaign, created a song and a logo, and appointed people in each of his 21 settlements to come up with a plan to absorb new families," the newspaper added.
On Thursday, at the Jordan Valley Conference, the treasurer of his council, Orit Artsiely, told the audience that the valley’s population of 4,509 in 2013 would grow to 15,000 within 10 years, the newspaper continued.
The sources pointed out that "the council was in the midst of a two-year building plan for 825 new homes that had already been approved."
3 may 2014
An Israeli army brigade in the northern West Bank has called on Israeli settlers to join the “independence festivals”, scheduled for next Tuesday, in which the proverbial ribbon will be cut for a new housing unit to be opened in Hawara military camp, south of the West Bank city of Nablus.
Leaflets and advertisements were distributed in various settlements of the northern West Bank for this purpose.
In addition to the call for participation in entertainment events, the leaflet included the inauguration of 64 housing units in the illegal settlement of “Har Bracha”, built on Gerizim Mount, south of Nablus city.
Great tension is reported to have spread between settlers and soldiers in Yizhar settlement, after the settlers incited attacks against them. According to Al Ray, the army responded by deploying at a religious school belonging to the setters.
Al Ray further reports that the army is to open all military camps to settlers.
An army spokesperson commented: “The Israeli forces open their camps, at this time of every year, to inform the Israeli public about the operations they conduct"; the brigade is the only one which holds the responsibility of opening the new housing units.
Leaflets and advertisements were distributed in various settlements of the northern West Bank for this purpose.
In addition to the call for participation in entertainment events, the leaflet included the inauguration of 64 housing units in the illegal settlement of “Har Bracha”, built on Gerizim Mount, south of Nablus city.
Great tension is reported to have spread between settlers and soldiers in Yizhar settlement, after the settlers incited attacks against them. According to Al Ray, the army responded by deploying at a religious school belonging to the setters.
Al Ray further reports that the army is to open all military camps to settlers.
An army spokesperson commented: “The Israeli forces open their camps, at this time of every year, to inform the Israeli public about the operations they conduct"; the brigade is the only one which holds the responsibility of opening the new housing units.