15 dec 2014
For the continued political goal of illegal settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, Israel has zoned hundreds of dunams in the town of Kafr El-Deek, West Salfit, as an area of 'natural reserve'.
According to the PNN, Israeli authorities, Sunday, confiscated a bulldozer from a citizen working on expanding a road in the area. Mr. Rafat Zein Eddine, from Kafr El-Deek, said that occupation forces stopped him from expanding the earthen road, claiming that it was 'natural reserve' and prohibited any further action.
They confiscated his bulldozer without mentioning when it might be released.
Researcher Khaled Ma'ali explained that the area, called Banat Bar, is located to the south of Bido'il, Zahav and Leshim settlements. Thus, the Israeli occupation, through this activity, aims to expand these illegal settlements on account of Kafr El-Deek.
Mr. Ma'ali added that this is the second announcement, by Israel, of a nature reserve in Salfit, after Wadi Qana, which Israel has banned Palestinians from constructing or planting, in order to expand eight illegal settlements surrounding the village.
Israel so far has seized about 90% of Kafr El-Deek village, and continues to do so, unabated.
According to the PNN, Israeli authorities, Sunday, confiscated a bulldozer from a citizen working on expanding a road in the area. Mr. Rafat Zein Eddine, from Kafr El-Deek, said that occupation forces stopped him from expanding the earthen road, claiming that it was 'natural reserve' and prohibited any further action.
They confiscated his bulldozer without mentioning when it might be released.
Researcher Khaled Ma'ali explained that the area, called Banat Bar, is located to the south of Bido'il, Zahav and Leshim settlements. Thus, the Israeli occupation, through this activity, aims to expand these illegal settlements on account of Kafr El-Deek.
Mr. Ma'ali added that this is the second announcement, by Israel, of a nature reserve in Salfit, after Wadi Qana, which Israel has banned Palestinians from constructing or planting, in order to expand eight illegal settlements surrounding the village.
Israel so far has seized about 90% of Kafr El-Deek village, and continues to do so, unabated.
10 dec 2014
Illegal expansion of "Jewish only" settlements continued unabated, in various parts of the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, with further demolition notices and destruction of Palestinian property by Israeli settlers.
Israeli police served demolition orders, on Tuesday, for a number of Palestinian-owned homes in the neighborhoods of Silwan and Jabal al-Mukabir, under the pretext of construction without legal permits, according to local sources.
Witnesses told WAFA correspondence that a staff from the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem invaded Silwan and handed two local residents orders for demolition of their homes on “unpermitted construction” grounds.
Meanwhile, the Israeli municipality also served two local residents of Jabal al-Mukabir notices to demolish their homes, despite the fact that one of the two has a valid construction permit.
The latest demolition orders come only a day after similar notices were handed to residents of Silwan, Jabal al-Mukabir and Sur Baher for unpermitted construction.
Issuance of construction permits for Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem has been tightly restricted, WAFA reports, and, in case a permit is issued, the holder is forced to pay skyrocketing fees. This has led many Palestinians in Jerusalem to construct without obtaining a permit to shelter their families.
Meanwhile, in the village of Issawiya, to the north of Jerusalem, the Israeli municipality ransacked a Palestinian-owned shop. Prior to the assault, the shop’s owner, identified as Nader Richeq, had won an Israeli court’s ruling under which the demolition of his property was to be annulled.
Richeq’s workshop reportedly employs a number of workers and is considered a source of livelihood for at least 10 Palestinian families.
The orders came despite a noticeable surge in mass protests that had struck the city, beginning last June. However, such protests have significantly decreased in number, following mass arrests carried out by Israeli police in and around neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem.
Since then, at least 600 Palestinian children were arrested in the city, 40% of whom were exposed to sexual abuse during arrest or investigation by the Israeli authorities, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club (PPC).
An attorney with PCC, also reported on other violations during the apprehension of children, including, to name just a few, night and predawn raids on family homes, physical abuse, and sexual abuse.
Also, on Tuesday, the Israeli army confiscated three Palestinian owned tractors in the village of Khirbet Ibzeq, in the northern Jordan Valley, according to local sources.
Aref Daraghmeh, head of Al-Maleh local council, which gathers a number of small Bedouin villages into one municipal congregation, said that an Israeli army force stormed the village and confiscated three tractors owned by local villagers.
Earlier in the morning, Bedouins and villagers from the Tubas governorate were allowed to cultivate an agricultural area close to the border with Jordan before army ordered the farmers out.
Entry to the area, locally known as Ein Sakout, has been prohibited since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, as Israel used it as a live-fire and training zone.
To be noted, Israel has heavily invested in transferring the Jordan Valley into a completely Israeli area, primarily of agricultural value, targeting to ban direct connectivity between a future Palestinian state and the rest of the Arab world.
To this end, tens of settlements and agricultural outposts have been established by Israel in the Valley, which makes up about one-third of the total area of the occupied West Bank.
Significantly contributing to Israeli agriculture, the Valley is nonetheless part of the "occupied" West Bank since 1967, a claim which the international community refuses to recognize.
See: 12/10/14 Palestine Takes on Observer Status at the ICC
WAFA further reports that Israeli authorities have, in recent years, earmarked around 35,000 dunams of land in the West Bank, currently used by the Israeli army as firing zones, for the purposes of settlement expansion.
According to Haaretz, in the 1970s, approximately a million dunams in the West Bank were declared firing zones for the exclusive use of the Israel army. Until the 1990s, such areas were used extensively for training.
After the Israeli military moved training bases to southern Israel, following the Oslo Accords, the use of firing zones in the West Bank declined and most are now abandoned or used only sporadically for training.
Nevertheless, the Israeli army continues to control these areas, keeping Palestinians out and demolishing buildings that are sometimes constructed there.
A May 2014 account by an Israeli army officer revealed that military training in live-fire zones in the West Bank are simply a justification to reduce the number of Palestinians living in close proximity.
Israeli settlers, on Tuesday morning, cut the wires of four power poles and chopped down several olive trees east of Burin village, to the south of Nablus.
Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activities in northern West Bank, said that several individuals from Bracha, an illegal settlement outpost, broke into the eastern part of Burin, where they vandalized and attempted to steal the wires of power poles and broke the street lights in the area.
The settlers also chopped down several olive trees.
Israel has confiscated 854 dunams from Burin village (7% from the total village area of Burin) for the establishment of two settlements; “Bracha”, to the north-east of the village, and “Yitzhar”, to the south-west of the village.
Israel has confiscated 630 dunums from Burin village for the establishment of Huwwara military base near Huwwara checkpoint. According to the Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem, a total of 2,875 Israeli settlers now live in these settlements.
See 11/05/14 Stealing the Land, Inch by Inch
Israeli police served demolition orders, on Tuesday, for a number of Palestinian-owned homes in the neighborhoods of Silwan and Jabal al-Mukabir, under the pretext of construction without legal permits, according to local sources.
Witnesses told WAFA correspondence that a staff from the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem invaded Silwan and handed two local residents orders for demolition of their homes on “unpermitted construction” grounds.
Meanwhile, the Israeli municipality also served two local residents of Jabal al-Mukabir notices to demolish their homes, despite the fact that one of the two has a valid construction permit.
The latest demolition orders come only a day after similar notices were handed to residents of Silwan, Jabal al-Mukabir and Sur Baher for unpermitted construction.
Issuance of construction permits for Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem has been tightly restricted, WAFA reports, and, in case a permit is issued, the holder is forced to pay skyrocketing fees. This has led many Palestinians in Jerusalem to construct without obtaining a permit to shelter their families.
Meanwhile, in the village of Issawiya, to the north of Jerusalem, the Israeli municipality ransacked a Palestinian-owned shop. Prior to the assault, the shop’s owner, identified as Nader Richeq, had won an Israeli court’s ruling under which the demolition of his property was to be annulled.
Richeq’s workshop reportedly employs a number of workers and is considered a source of livelihood for at least 10 Palestinian families.
The orders came despite a noticeable surge in mass protests that had struck the city, beginning last June. However, such protests have significantly decreased in number, following mass arrests carried out by Israeli police in and around neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem.
Since then, at least 600 Palestinian children were arrested in the city, 40% of whom were exposed to sexual abuse during arrest or investigation by the Israeli authorities, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club (PPC).
An attorney with PCC, also reported on other violations during the apprehension of children, including, to name just a few, night and predawn raids on family homes, physical abuse, and sexual abuse.
Also, on Tuesday, the Israeli army confiscated three Palestinian owned tractors in the village of Khirbet Ibzeq, in the northern Jordan Valley, according to local sources.
Aref Daraghmeh, head of Al-Maleh local council, which gathers a number of small Bedouin villages into one municipal congregation, said that an Israeli army force stormed the village and confiscated three tractors owned by local villagers.
Earlier in the morning, Bedouins and villagers from the Tubas governorate were allowed to cultivate an agricultural area close to the border with Jordan before army ordered the farmers out.
Entry to the area, locally known as Ein Sakout, has been prohibited since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, as Israel used it as a live-fire and training zone.
To be noted, Israel has heavily invested in transferring the Jordan Valley into a completely Israeli area, primarily of agricultural value, targeting to ban direct connectivity between a future Palestinian state and the rest of the Arab world.
To this end, tens of settlements and agricultural outposts have been established by Israel in the Valley, which makes up about one-third of the total area of the occupied West Bank.
Significantly contributing to Israeli agriculture, the Valley is nonetheless part of the "occupied" West Bank since 1967, a claim which the international community refuses to recognize.
See: 12/10/14 Palestine Takes on Observer Status at the ICC
WAFA further reports that Israeli authorities have, in recent years, earmarked around 35,000 dunams of land in the West Bank, currently used by the Israeli army as firing zones, for the purposes of settlement expansion.
According to Haaretz, in the 1970s, approximately a million dunams in the West Bank were declared firing zones for the exclusive use of the Israel army. Until the 1990s, such areas were used extensively for training.
After the Israeli military moved training bases to southern Israel, following the Oslo Accords, the use of firing zones in the West Bank declined and most are now abandoned or used only sporadically for training.
Nevertheless, the Israeli army continues to control these areas, keeping Palestinians out and demolishing buildings that are sometimes constructed there.
A May 2014 account by an Israeli army officer revealed that military training in live-fire zones in the West Bank are simply a justification to reduce the number of Palestinians living in close proximity.
Israeli settlers, on Tuesday morning, cut the wires of four power poles and chopped down several olive trees east of Burin village, to the south of Nablus.
Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activities in northern West Bank, said that several individuals from Bracha, an illegal settlement outpost, broke into the eastern part of Burin, where they vandalized and attempted to steal the wires of power poles and broke the street lights in the area.
The settlers also chopped down several olive trees.
Israel has confiscated 854 dunams from Burin village (7% from the total village area of Burin) for the establishment of two settlements; “Bracha”, to the north-east of the village, and “Yitzhar”, to the south-west of the village.
Israel has confiscated 630 dunums from Burin village for the establishment of Huwwara military base near Huwwara checkpoint. According to the Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem, a total of 2,875 Israeli settlers now live in these settlements.
See 11/05/14 Stealing the Land, Inch by Inch
8 dec 2014
Head of the Jerusalem committee for Islamic Cemeteries Mustafa Abu Zahra said the Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) have put into effect a bid to construct a Judaization museum on the ruins of Muslims’ Ma’man-Allah Cemetery.
Abu Zahara said a huge building is set to be constructed by the IOA over tracts of the historical Ma’man-Allah cemetery.
The building, to be dubbed "The Museum of Tolerance", poses as a sacrilegious act due to the sanctity of the graveyard, he added.
The notorious bid had reportedly been laid by a company based in the U.S. state of California, in cooperation with the IOA.
Around 12 Dunums of the land tracts of the historical Ma’man-Allah cemetery had been misappropriated by the IOA to that end. 70% of the overall remaining surface has been seized in favor of the so-called Park of Independence.
Abu Zahra reiterated Muslims’ firm rebuff of such a Judaization project.
"This is a blatant assault on Muslims’ legacy, history, martyrs, and sanctuaries,” he said. “Such an ill-fated project should be immediately brought to a halt.”
Abu Zahara said a huge building is set to be constructed by the IOA over tracts of the historical Ma’man-Allah cemetery.
The building, to be dubbed "The Museum of Tolerance", poses as a sacrilegious act due to the sanctity of the graveyard, he added.
The notorious bid had reportedly been laid by a company based in the U.S. state of California, in cooperation with the IOA.
Around 12 Dunums of the land tracts of the historical Ma’man-Allah cemetery had been misappropriated by the IOA to that end. 70% of the overall remaining surface has been seized in favor of the so-called Park of Independence.
Abu Zahra reiterated Muslims’ firm rebuff of such a Judaization project.
"This is a blatant assault on Muslims’ legacy, history, martyrs, and sanctuaries,” he said. “Such an ill-fated project should be immediately brought to a halt.”
4 dec 2014
The Jerusalem municipality is set to invest some NIS 50 million in the East Jerusalem settlement of Har Homa.
The settler-affiliated news site Arutz 7 reports that the investments will include the creation of parks, children's play areas, green spaces, football and basketball fields.
Existing parks and play areas will be upgraded, and additional work on Har Homa's infrastructure will include new lighting, the fixing of potholes and improvement of pavements.
Har Homa, located in the southern area of occupied East Jerusalem, is home to some 25,000 settlers.
The settler-affiliated news site Arutz 7 reports that the investments will include the creation of parks, children's play areas, green spaces, football and basketball fields.
Existing parks and play areas will be upgraded, and additional work on Har Homa's infrastructure will include new lighting, the fixing of potholes and improvement of pavements.
Har Homa, located in the southern area of occupied East Jerusalem, is home to some 25,000 settlers.
1 dec 2014
Lieberman suggests to pay off Palestinians to leave Israel
Following the first phase in approving a controversial bill to officiate Israel as a uniquely Jewish nation state, Israeli authorities now intend to build a water barrier to expand its political hegemony. Israel's Foreign Minister, furthermore, has proposed paying off Palestinian citizens to leave the country.
PNN correspondence reported, Sunday, that Israeli sources plan to build the intended barrier 2.8 miles high.
Israeli sources claim that the troubled security conditions in Egypt have forced Israel to make this decision to abort any attempt from outsiders to sneak into "Israeli beaches".
Though security in Egypt remains on high alert, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has recently expressed concern for the Palestinian cause, going so far as to say that he would be prepared to send in troops in support of future Palestinian state, in order to help stabilize it.
According to Walla Israeli news, Israel has already started the construction process to build a water barrier along the borders with Jordan, in Aqaba.
-- --
In related news, PNN reports that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, on Friday, proposed on his Facebook page and his party's website, that the Israeli government should offer "economic incentives" for Palestinian citizens of Israel, in order to encourage them to leave the country and move to their planned independent Palestinian state.
With the headline "Swimming Against the Stream", Lieberman stated: "Those [Palestinians in Israel] who decide that their identity is Palestinian will be able to concede their Israeli citizenship and move and become citizens of the future Palestinian state. Israel should even encourage them to do so with a system of economic incentives."
Lieberman has always called for division of Jews and Palestinians, and he is one of the most strident of those suggesting separation of the population.
See also: 10/23/14 Israeli Government Completes Plan to Impose Sovereignty on Area C
Following the first phase in approving a controversial bill to officiate Israel as a uniquely Jewish nation state, Israeli authorities now intend to build a water barrier to expand its political hegemony. Israel's Foreign Minister, furthermore, has proposed paying off Palestinian citizens to leave the country.
PNN correspondence reported, Sunday, that Israeli sources plan to build the intended barrier 2.8 miles high.
Israeli sources claim that the troubled security conditions in Egypt have forced Israel to make this decision to abort any attempt from outsiders to sneak into "Israeli beaches".
Though security in Egypt remains on high alert, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has recently expressed concern for the Palestinian cause, going so far as to say that he would be prepared to send in troops in support of future Palestinian state, in order to help stabilize it.
According to Walla Israeli news, Israel has already started the construction process to build a water barrier along the borders with Jordan, in Aqaba.
-- --
In related news, PNN reports that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, on Friday, proposed on his Facebook page and his party's website, that the Israeli government should offer "economic incentives" for Palestinian citizens of Israel, in order to encourage them to leave the country and move to their planned independent Palestinian state.
With the headline "Swimming Against the Stream", Lieberman stated: "Those [Palestinians in Israel] who decide that their identity is Palestinian will be able to concede their Israeli citizenship and move and become citizens of the future Palestinian state. Israel should even encourage them to do so with a system of economic incentives."
Lieberman has always called for division of Jews and Palestinians, and he is one of the most strident of those suggesting separation of the population.
See also: 10/23/14 Israeli Government Completes Plan to Impose Sovereignty on Area C
27 nov 2014
The Israeli civil administration of the West Bank said it had annexed dozens of dunums of Palestinian land to expand Eli settlement located on highway 60 north of Jerusalem and Ramallah.
According to Israeli news reports on Wednesday, the civil administration seized 221 dunums of land located in Palestinian villages to build 620 housing units and annex them to the settlement.
For their part, municipal chiefs in the Palestinian villages of Sawiya, Laban and Qaryout filed, in cooperation with Israeli human rights groups, a petition with the Israeli higher court to stop the final approval of the new structural plan of the settlement and the annexation of Palestinian-owned lands located in the villages.
According to Israeli news reports on Wednesday, the civil administration seized 221 dunums of land located in Palestinian villages to build 620 housing units and annex them to the settlement.
For their part, municipal chiefs in the Palestinian villages of Sawiya, Laban and Qaryout filed, in cooperation with Israeli human rights groups, a petition with the Israeli higher court to stop the final approval of the new structural plan of the settlement and the annexation of Palestinian-owned lands located in the villages.
26 nov 2014
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given orders for the allocation of $18.1 Million in expansion funds for 300 units of Beit El settlement, illegally built near Ramallah, according to Haaretz.
Netanyahu ordered Finance Minister Yair Lapid to allocate this money to move an Israeli army base, while making room for the construction of 300 settlement units in Beit El.
Lapid has reportedly refused to do so, noting that the transfer of such a large amount of money needs to come with a cabinet’s vote.
WAFA further notes that Netanyahu has made this order pursuant to a secret deal, reached in 2012, with settlers evicted from Givat Ulpana settlement outpost, built illegally on private Palestinian land on the outskirts of Beit El settlement, in return for their cooperation in voluntarily evacuating the units that the Supreme Court had ordered to be demolished in 2012.
“Under the deal, temporary housing was set up for the 30 families who lost their homes, and the state approved construction of 30 new apartments for the use of the Beit El Yeshiva; the latter are currently being built. The government also agreed to plan and fund four public buildings in the settlement and to relocate a Border Police base from Beit El so that 300 housing units could be built in its stead,” stated the report by Haaretz.
For this end, the Israeli army base, which the Israeli government alleges is built on ‘state land’, would be moved across the road “to land previously seized for military purposes and on which an abandoned base now stands,” it said.
Netanyahu, who is “reluctant to bring the issue to the cabinet”, has instructed Lapid to do the transfer for “both diplomatic and political reasons”.
Additionally, Israeli Minister of Housing Uri Ariel said that the settlement expansion project was “on his desk”, and that he has demanded Netanyahu to order Lapid to fund the relocation of the base, which the latter refused to do.
Head of the Anti-wall and Settlement Commission, Ziad Abu Ein, stressed that this secret deal sabotages the prospect of a future Palestinian state.
Netanyahu ordered Finance Minister Yair Lapid to allocate this money to move an Israeli army base, while making room for the construction of 300 settlement units in Beit El.
Lapid has reportedly refused to do so, noting that the transfer of such a large amount of money needs to come with a cabinet’s vote.
WAFA further notes that Netanyahu has made this order pursuant to a secret deal, reached in 2012, with settlers evicted from Givat Ulpana settlement outpost, built illegally on private Palestinian land on the outskirts of Beit El settlement, in return for their cooperation in voluntarily evacuating the units that the Supreme Court had ordered to be demolished in 2012.
“Under the deal, temporary housing was set up for the 30 families who lost their homes, and the state approved construction of 30 new apartments for the use of the Beit El Yeshiva; the latter are currently being built. The government also agreed to plan and fund four public buildings in the settlement and to relocate a Border Police base from Beit El so that 300 housing units could be built in its stead,” stated the report by Haaretz.
For this end, the Israeli army base, which the Israeli government alleges is built on ‘state land’, would be moved across the road “to land previously seized for military purposes and on which an abandoned base now stands,” it said.
Netanyahu, who is “reluctant to bring the issue to the cabinet”, has instructed Lapid to do the transfer for “both diplomatic and political reasons”.
Additionally, Israeli Minister of Housing Uri Ariel said that the settlement expansion project was “on his desk”, and that he has demanded Netanyahu to order Lapid to fund the relocation of the base, which the latter refused to do.
Head of the Anti-wall and Settlement Commission, Ziad Abu Ein, stressed that this secret deal sabotages the prospect of a future Palestinian state.
23 nov 2014
The Israeli Knesset Finance Committee recently approved an additional 20 million NIS (roughly $5.2 million) for funding security in settlements built in occupied East Jerusalem.
Estimations made by Israeli Finance Ministry place the cost of protecting each settler in these Palestinian neighborhoods amounts to approximately 30,000 shekels per year, according to Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency.
The Israeli Housing and Construction Ministry claim that the additional funds are a one-time increase aimed at purchasing more surveillance cameras and other technology, and will be reduced in years to come.
Funding for the security of Jewish settlers in occupied East Jerusalem has reportedly risen at a constant rate over the years, from 7 million shekels in 1991 to double this figure in 1995, and to some 51 million shekels by the year 2010.
Al Ray notes that the Israeli Housing Ministry currently employs 370 security guards in East Jerusalem to protect settlers in the Old City's Muslim Quarter, as well as settlements in Abu Tor, Silwan, Ras al-Amud, A-Tur , and Sheikh Jarrah.
As many as 500,000 Israeli settlers now live in various developments throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, in contravention of established international law.
Estimations made by Israeli Finance Ministry place the cost of protecting each settler in these Palestinian neighborhoods amounts to approximately 30,000 shekels per year, according to Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency.
The Israeli Housing and Construction Ministry claim that the additional funds are a one-time increase aimed at purchasing more surveillance cameras and other technology, and will be reduced in years to come.
Funding for the security of Jewish settlers in occupied East Jerusalem has reportedly risen at a constant rate over the years, from 7 million shekels in 1991 to double this figure in 1995, and to some 51 million shekels by the year 2010.
Al Ray notes that the Israeli Housing Ministry currently employs 370 security guards in East Jerusalem to protect settlers in the Old City's Muslim Quarter, as well as settlements in Abu Tor, Silwan, Ras al-Amud, A-Tur , and Sheikh Jarrah.
As many as 500,000 Israeli settlers now live in various developments throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, in contravention of established international law.
22 nov 2014
The Israeli government has approved since the beginning of the year more than 14,000 new housing units in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank, a Palestinian official source revealed.
Advisor at Palestine Liberation Organization Negotiations Support Unit, Ashraf al-Khatib, said in an interview with Anadolu news agency that the Israeli authorities have published tenders and approved plans to establish more than 14,000 new housing units, half of them will be carried out in East Jerusalem.
Since the beginning of 2014, tenders to build 5241 housing units were published, while 9282 other housing units were approved in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, he clarified.
Such steps reflect Israeli premier Benyamin Netanyahu’s unwillingness to stick to the political settlement process, the PLO official added, charging that the Israeli government is working to impose a status quo on the ground that prevents the two-state solution.
PLO Negotiations Support Unit revealed in a report issued Friday that nearly half of the declared settlement plans are expected to be carried out in east Jerusalem including 1500 housing units in Ramat Shlomo, 738 units in Ramot settlement, 437 units in Givat Ze'ev settlement, and 304 units in Kfar Adumim settlement.
The report also pointed out that 708 housing units were approved or to be approved in the Gilo settlement, and 512 units in Har Homa settlement, in addition to 2335 housing units in Givat Hamatos settlement.
Local and international institutions’ reports about Israeli settlement construction and expansion are mainly based on information leaked by the Israeli leftist organization Peace Now.
The Israeli committee for planning and building has approved Thursday the construction of 78 new housing units northern and southern occupied Jerusalem.
The US secretary of state, John Kerry, has voiced dissatisfaction at Israel's continued building of settlements in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank, saying that the expansion of settlements hurt Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
Advisor at Palestine Liberation Organization Negotiations Support Unit, Ashraf al-Khatib, said in an interview with Anadolu news agency that the Israeli authorities have published tenders and approved plans to establish more than 14,000 new housing units, half of them will be carried out in East Jerusalem.
Since the beginning of 2014, tenders to build 5241 housing units were published, while 9282 other housing units were approved in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, he clarified.
Such steps reflect Israeli premier Benyamin Netanyahu’s unwillingness to stick to the political settlement process, the PLO official added, charging that the Israeli government is working to impose a status quo on the ground that prevents the two-state solution.
PLO Negotiations Support Unit revealed in a report issued Friday that nearly half of the declared settlement plans are expected to be carried out in east Jerusalem including 1500 housing units in Ramat Shlomo, 738 units in Ramot settlement, 437 units in Givat Ze'ev settlement, and 304 units in Kfar Adumim settlement.
The report also pointed out that 708 housing units were approved or to be approved in the Gilo settlement, and 512 units in Har Homa settlement, in addition to 2335 housing units in Givat Hamatos settlement.
Local and international institutions’ reports about Israeli settlement construction and expansion are mainly based on information leaked by the Israeli leftist organization Peace Now.
The Israeli committee for planning and building has approved Thursday the construction of 78 new housing units northern and southern occupied Jerusalem.
The US secretary of state, John Kerry, has voiced dissatisfaction at Israel's continued building of settlements in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank, saying that the expansion of settlements hurt Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
20 nov 2014
The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage said that the Israeli antiquities authority and Elad society are persistent in destroying the historical Islamic sites at the entrance to Wadi Hilweh, south of the Aqsa Mosque, in order to build a Jewish center.
In a report released on Wednesday, the foundation stated that Israel's excavations and construction activities south of the Aqsa Mosque led to the destruction of wide areas of Islamic archaeological remains dating back to Umayyad and Abbasid eras.
The foundation appealed to international, Arab, and Islamic organizations concerned with the protection of the historical architectural heritage to move to protect these Islamic sites and prevent Israel from building a Jewish center in their place.
In a report released on Wednesday, the foundation stated that Israel's excavations and construction activities south of the Aqsa Mosque led to the destruction of wide areas of Islamic archaeological remains dating back to Umayyad and Abbasid eras.
The foundation appealed to international, Arab, and Islamic organizations concerned with the protection of the historical architectural heritage to move to protect these Islamic sites and prevent Israel from building a Jewish center in their place.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) Wednesday threatened to seize dozens of Palestinian land tracts covering thousands of dunums in the northern West Bank cities of Jenin and Tulkarem.
A PIC correspondent said the IOF stormed the targeted land tracts and handed the owners confiscation notifications, warning them against using the land for construction or cultivation.
Palestinian citizen Mohamed Amarna from Yabad town told the PIC that the issue is based on a military resolution signed in 2009. He appealed to the concerned authorities to call off the law.
Meanwhile, the so-called Israeli local committee for planning and construction in Occupied Jerusalem approved bids for the construction of 78 settlement units in East Jerusalem.
The Walla news website said the ratification was carried out despite the tension that has been running high in occupied Jerusalem.
Four members of the committee voted in favor of the tender, one voted against.
http://english.palinfo
A PIC correspondent said the IOF stormed the targeted land tracts and handed the owners confiscation notifications, warning them against using the land for construction or cultivation.
Palestinian citizen Mohamed Amarna from Yabad town told the PIC that the issue is based on a military resolution signed in 2009. He appealed to the concerned authorities to call off the law.
Meanwhile, the so-called Israeli local committee for planning and construction in Occupied Jerusalem approved bids for the construction of 78 settlement units in East Jerusalem.
The Walla news website said the ratification was carried out despite the tension that has been running high in occupied Jerusalem.
Four members of the committee voted in favor of the tender, one voted against.
http://english.palinfo
