20 jan 2016
The Israeli army has been redeployed in a Palestinian area east of Bethlehem, in a step believed to serve as a prelude to connect illegal settlement blocs in Hebron, with others in Jerusalem, a researcher said on Tuesday.
Suhail Khalilia, head of the settlement monitoring unit at The Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ), said, according to WAFA, that redeploying Israeli soldiers in Esh Gherab aims to connect the illegal settlement of Tekou with Har Homa settlement, in Jerusalem.
Khalilia warned that Israel could relocate parts of the Israeli Civil Administration from Gush Etzion settlement bloc to Esh Gherab military site.
On Monday, Israeli daily Haaretz said that a permanent garrison has already returned to Esh Gerab, referred to as Shdema outpost, which served as a lookout post during the second Intifada. However, Israeli army forces decided it was no longer needed, and abandoned it in 2006.
Five months later, Israeli authorities issued orders to build a military watchtower, a move to assert Israeli control over the area, said Khalilia.
Beit Sahour Municipality decided to turn the abandoned site into a hospital, while the Women in Green organization sought to turn it into a new Jewish settlement, Haaretz added.
Khalilia said the municipality attempted to build a hospital and to develop a national park, a cultural and sports center at the site of the abandoned outpost, but the plan was obstructed due to repeated attacks by Jewish settlers.
Suhail Khalilia, head of the settlement monitoring unit at The Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ), said, according to WAFA, that redeploying Israeli soldiers in Esh Gherab aims to connect the illegal settlement of Tekou with Har Homa settlement, in Jerusalem.
Khalilia warned that Israel could relocate parts of the Israeli Civil Administration from Gush Etzion settlement bloc to Esh Gherab military site.
On Monday, Israeli daily Haaretz said that a permanent garrison has already returned to Esh Gerab, referred to as Shdema outpost, which served as a lookout post during the second Intifada. However, Israeli army forces decided it was no longer needed, and abandoned it in 2006.
Five months later, Israeli authorities issued orders to build a military watchtower, a move to assert Israeli control over the area, said Khalilia.
Beit Sahour Municipality decided to turn the abandoned site into a hospital, while the Women in Green organization sought to turn it into a new Jewish settlement, Haaretz added.
Khalilia said the municipality attempted to build a hospital and to develop a national park, a cultural and sports center at the site of the abandoned outpost, but the plan was obstructed due to repeated attacks by Jewish settlers.
The Israeli Occupation Authority (IOA) is scheduled to declare in the coming weeks that 1,500 dunums (roughly 1.5 million square meters) of land near Jericho as "state land", according to the Israeli Army Radio on Wednesday morning.
The reports indicate that the land has been partially declared as state land while the rest will be used for settlement construction.
On the other hand, nearly 35 Israeli settlers from Elad settlement organization stormed under heavy police protection a Palestinian-owned building in Silwan town in occupied Jerusalem.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center explained in a statement issued Wednesday morning that nearly 35 settlers from Elad settlement organization supported by Israeli Special Forces raided the neighborhood of Baydoun in Silwan and entered the residential building through its main gate easily without any resistance or objection by its owners who were not even at home.
The center pointed out that the settlers had the keys of the building.
The Jerusalemite center underlined that the building consists of two floors built before the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem, pointing out that the seized building is surrounded by a large land adjacent to the settlement outpost seized in 2014.
The confiscated building is owned by Ahmad Abu Ter who sued his tenant few years ago for back rent. Few weeks ago, he effectively evacuated the tenant.
Shortly after evacuating the tenant, Abu Ter started building the second floor without any objection from the Israeli municipality crews who used to stop Jerusalemite buildings construction under the pretext of being built without permit.
This was not the case with Abu Ter who is clearly involved in the building confiscation as it was handed over “peacefully” to settlers after the completion of the construction process, the center stated.
Silwan, in particular, has seen in recent years an influx of Israeli settlers at the cost of home demolitions and the eviction of Palestinian families.
Some 579 homes have been destroyed in the city over the last twelve years, leaving 2,133 Palestinians homeless in total, according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem.
The reports indicate that the land has been partially declared as state land while the rest will be used for settlement construction.
On the other hand, nearly 35 Israeli settlers from Elad settlement organization stormed under heavy police protection a Palestinian-owned building in Silwan town in occupied Jerusalem.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center explained in a statement issued Wednesday morning that nearly 35 settlers from Elad settlement organization supported by Israeli Special Forces raided the neighborhood of Baydoun in Silwan and entered the residential building through its main gate easily without any resistance or objection by its owners who were not even at home.
The center pointed out that the settlers had the keys of the building.
The Jerusalemite center underlined that the building consists of two floors built before the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem, pointing out that the seized building is surrounded by a large land adjacent to the settlement outpost seized in 2014.
The confiscated building is owned by Ahmad Abu Ter who sued his tenant few years ago for back rent. Few weeks ago, he effectively evacuated the tenant.
Shortly after evacuating the tenant, Abu Ter started building the second floor without any objection from the Israeli municipality crews who used to stop Jerusalemite buildings construction under the pretext of being built without permit.
This was not the case with Abu Ter who is clearly involved in the building confiscation as it was handed over “peacefully” to settlers after the completion of the construction process, the center stated.
Silwan, in particular, has seen in recent years an influx of Israeli settlers at the cost of home demolitions and the eviction of Palestinian families.
Some 579 homes have been destroyed in the city over the last twelve years, leaving 2,133 Palestinians homeless in total, according to the Israeli rights group B'Tselem.
Israeli soldiers and settlers in Hebron
Both the EU and United States are becoming increasingly public in criticism of Israel's settlement policies.
The European Union finalised its resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Israeli settlements Monday, confirming that the EU considers Israel's borders to be on the 1967 Green Line, and that any agreement made between Israel and member countries would accordingly not apply to settlements.
"The EU expresses its commitment to ensure that – in line with international law – all agreements between the State of Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967," the resolution reads.
Israeli minister of foreign affairs and prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, worked on a last minute push ahead of Monday's meeting of the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council, to halt the first draft of the resolution, which would have broadened the distinction between Israel and the territories, and applied it to bilateral agreements between Israel and each of the 28 member states.
"Our intense diplomatic work prevented wording applying to each member state," said an Israeli official.
The EU has held for many years that a final agreement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be based on a two-state solution, and that Israeli settlements are illegal and undermine peace efforts.
Relations have been strained between Israel and the EU after Netanyahu declared last year, during the Israeli national elections campaign, that the Oslo agreements are finished. While the prime minister later retracted this statement, it didn't manage to improve relations with the EU.
Employing a similar tone, American ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro criticized Israel’s settlements policies during a speech he gave Monday at an Institute for National Security Studies conference in Tel Aviv.
Ambassador Shapiro said that the US is concerned by ongoing building in the settlements and also criticised the Israeli authorities' lack of investigation into Jewish terrorism in the West Bank.
"Too much vigilantism goes unchecked," the ambassador said, stressing that "at times there seem to be two standards of adherence to the rule of law [in the West Bank]: one for Israelis and another for Palestinians."
Both the EU and United States are becoming increasingly public in criticism of Israel's settlement policies.
The European Union finalised its resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Israeli settlements Monday, confirming that the EU considers Israel's borders to be on the 1967 Green Line, and that any agreement made between Israel and member countries would accordingly not apply to settlements.
"The EU expresses its commitment to ensure that – in line with international law – all agreements between the State of Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967," the resolution reads.
Israeli minister of foreign affairs and prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, worked on a last minute push ahead of Monday's meeting of the European Union's Foreign Affairs Council, to halt the first draft of the resolution, which would have broadened the distinction between Israel and the territories, and applied it to bilateral agreements between Israel and each of the 28 member states.
"Our intense diplomatic work prevented wording applying to each member state," said an Israeli official.
The EU has held for many years that a final agreement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must be based on a two-state solution, and that Israeli settlements are illegal and undermine peace efforts.
Relations have been strained between Israel and the EU after Netanyahu declared last year, during the Israeli national elections campaign, that the Oslo agreements are finished. While the prime minister later retracted this statement, it didn't manage to improve relations with the EU.
Employing a similar tone, American ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro criticized Israel’s settlements policies during a speech he gave Monday at an Institute for National Security Studies conference in Tel Aviv.
Ambassador Shapiro said that the US is concerned by ongoing building in the settlements and also criticised the Israeli authorities' lack of investigation into Jewish terrorism in the West Bank.
"Too much vigilantism goes unchecked," the ambassador said, stressing that "at times there seem to be two standards of adherence to the rule of law [in the West Bank]: one for Israelis and another for Palestinians."
19 jan 2016
Human Rights Watch, on Tuesday, called on Israeli and international businesses to withdraw from Jewish-only settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, saying they "contribute to and benefit from" Israeli violations.
The international rights group said in a statement, according to Ma'an News Agency, that Israel's violations of Palestinian rights -- as well as international humanitarian law -- were "intrinsic to abusive, harmful, and longstanding policies in the West Bank."
The sole way for businesses to avoid contributing to this violation of international law would be to completely withdraw their business activity from the occupied Palestinian territory, HRW said.
The statement was issued following the release of a 162-page report on Israeli and international businesses operating in the occupied Palestinian territory, entitled Occupation Inc.
Studies conducted for the report said settlement businesses contributed to rights violations through the labor abuse of Palestinians, development of Israeli Jewish-only infrastructure in the occupied territory, as well as the confiscation and restriction of Palestinian land.
PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat said in response to the report that the findings countered statements made by Israeli leadership that settlement businesses “contributed” to the Palestinian economy.
In a statement, Erekat praised the report, but expressed disappointment that it fell short by "failing to call for a complete ban on trade with Israeli settlements."
Businesses operating in 237 settlements occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank are enabling the settlements -- deemed illegal under international law -- to be economically self-sufficient by providing services and employment for settlers as well as the payment of taxes to settlement municipalities, the report said.
These businesses "depend on and contribute to the unlawful confiscation of Palestinian land and resources by financing, developing, and marketing settlement homes," HRW said, adding that such dependence "inextricably" links businesses to Israel’s discriminatory policies in the occupied territory.
The group documented around 20 settlement industrial zones that hold about 1,000 factories as well as around 9,300 hectares of Palestinian land cultivated by Israeli settlers working for external businesses.
"Settlement manufacturers and agricultural producers export much of these goods, often wrongly labeling them as made in Israel," HRW said.
Companies included in case studies in the HRW report included German multinational Heidelberg Cement, Colorado-based international real estate brokerage franchise, RE/MAX, and the German Bank for Development (KfW).
The rights group said that their call on businesses to halt activity in the occupied territory was not part of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, but rather a call on "businesses to comply with their own human rights responsibilities by ceasing settlement-related activities."
HRW also called on all countries to abstain from importing products manufactured in settlements as a part of their "duty under international humanitarian law not to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territories."
"Businesses should account for the reality that using Palestinian land, water, minerals, and resources in their settlement operations is unlawful and comes at a great cost to Palestinians," Director of the Business and Human Rights Division of HRW Arvind Ganesan said in a press release.
"But the tide is turning as more and more businesses are waking up to the reality that it is wrong for them to profit from inherently illegal settlements," he said.
The HRW report was released amid ongoing efforts by rights groups and Palestinian leadership to influence the international community to pressure Israel to stop its decades-long military occupation in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian policy network Al-Shabaka reported last month that the ongoing occupation has stifled Palestinian economic growth while producing billions of dollars in Israeli revenue.
"Every dollar of stone that settlement businesses extract and sell from the West Bank is a dollar taken from Palestinians," HRW’s Ganesan said.
"The bottom line is no settlement business should be operating and profiting from land and resources illegally taken from the Palestinian people," Ganesan added.
Archive IMEMC: Bennett Wants to See Palestinians Become "Water Carriers and Wood Hewers" for Jews
Hotovely: "The whole land of Israel belongs to the Jews”
The international rights group said in a statement, according to Ma'an News Agency, that Israel's violations of Palestinian rights -- as well as international humanitarian law -- were "intrinsic to abusive, harmful, and longstanding policies in the West Bank."
The sole way for businesses to avoid contributing to this violation of international law would be to completely withdraw their business activity from the occupied Palestinian territory, HRW said.
The statement was issued following the release of a 162-page report on Israeli and international businesses operating in the occupied Palestinian territory, entitled Occupation Inc.
Studies conducted for the report said settlement businesses contributed to rights violations through the labor abuse of Palestinians, development of Israeli Jewish-only infrastructure in the occupied territory, as well as the confiscation and restriction of Palestinian land.
PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat said in response to the report that the findings countered statements made by Israeli leadership that settlement businesses “contributed” to the Palestinian economy.
In a statement, Erekat praised the report, but expressed disappointment that it fell short by "failing to call for a complete ban on trade with Israeli settlements."
Businesses operating in 237 settlements occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank are enabling the settlements -- deemed illegal under international law -- to be economically self-sufficient by providing services and employment for settlers as well as the payment of taxes to settlement municipalities, the report said.
These businesses "depend on and contribute to the unlawful confiscation of Palestinian land and resources by financing, developing, and marketing settlement homes," HRW said, adding that such dependence "inextricably" links businesses to Israel’s discriminatory policies in the occupied territory.
The group documented around 20 settlement industrial zones that hold about 1,000 factories as well as around 9,300 hectares of Palestinian land cultivated by Israeli settlers working for external businesses.
"Settlement manufacturers and agricultural producers export much of these goods, often wrongly labeling them as made in Israel," HRW said.
Companies included in case studies in the HRW report included German multinational Heidelberg Cement, Colorado-based international real estate brokerage franchise, RE/MAX, and the German Bank for Development (KfW).
The rights group said that their call on businesses to halt activity in the occupied territory was not part of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement, but rather a call on "businesses to comply with their own human rights responsibilities by ceasing settlement-related activities."
HRW also called on all countries to abstain from importing products manufactured in settlements as a part of their "duty under international humanitarian law not to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territories."
"Businesses should account for the reality that using Palestinian land, water, minerals, and resources in their settlement operations is unlawful and comes at a great cost to Palestinians," Director of the Business and Human Rights Division of HRW Arvind Ganesan said in a press release.
"But the tide is turning as more and more businesses are waking up to the reality that it is wrong for them to profit from inherently illegal settlements," he said.
The HRW report was released amid ongoing efforts by rights groups and Palestinian leadership to influence the international community to pressure Israel to stop its decades-long military occupation in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian policy network Al-Shabaka reported last month that the ongoing occupation has stifled Palestinian economic growth while producing billions of dollars in Israeli revenue.
"Every dollar of stone that settlement businesses extract and sell from the West Bank is a dollar taken from Palestinians," HRW’s Ganesan said.
"The bottom line is no settlement business should be operating and profiting from land and resources illegally taken from the Palestinian people," Ganesan added.
Archive IMEMC: Bennett Wants to See Palestinians Become "Water Carriers and Wood Hewers" for Jews
Hotovely: "The whole land of Israel belongs to the Jews”
18 jan 2016
The Hamas Movement has urged the European Union (EU) states to adopt by unanimous vote a draft resolution against Israel's settlement expansion policy.
Member of Hamas's political bureau Ezzat al-Resheq stated in press remarks to Quds Press on Monday that the EU's intention to reemphasize its position on the labeling of settlement-made products would be a step in the right direction, albeit insufficient to encounter Israel's ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people and their land.
"The EU states have to prove their alignment with the values of justice, freedom and humanity, and stand by the Palestinian people who are exposed to the most heinous crimes every day," Resheq underscored.
"We expect that the EU states will not bow to any political pressures, extortion, or desperate attempts by the occupation leaders in order to discourage some of them from voting in favor of the resolution," the Hamas official added.
Resheq expressed his Movement's appreciation of such European positions which support the Palestinian people's right to live in freedom and dignity on their own land.
The EU foreign affairs council is slated to meet on Monday to emphasize the distinction Europe makes between Israel and its settlements.
The EU draft resolution states that "the EU will continue to unequivocally and explicitly make the distinction between Israel and all territories occupied by Israel in 1967. EU agreements with the State of Israel are only applicable to the state of Israel [and not to the settlements]. The EU and its member states are united in their commitment to ensure full implementation of existing EU legislation and agreements applicable to settlement products."
Member of Hamas's political bureau Ezzat al-Resheq stated in press remarks to Quds Press on Monday that the EU's intention to reemphasize its position on the labeling of settlement-made products would be a step in the right direction, albeit insufficient to encounter Israel's ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people and their land.
"The EU states have to prove their alignment with the values of justice, freedom and humanity, and stand by the Palestinian people who are exposed to the most heinous crimes every day," Resheq underscored.
"We expect that the EU states will not bow to any political pressures, extortion, or desperate attempts by the occupation leaders in order to discourage some of them from voting in favor of the resolution," the Hamas official added.
Resheq expressed his Movement's appreciation of such European positions which support the Palestinian people's right to live in freedom and dignity on their own land.
The EU foreign affairs council is slated to meet on Monday to emphasize the distinction Europe makes between Israel and its settlements.
The EU draft resolution states that "the EU will continue to unequivocally and explicitly make the distinction between Israel and all territories occupied by Israel in 1967. EU agreements with the State of Israel are only applicable to the state of Israel [and not to the settlements]. The EU and its member states are united in their commitment to ensure full implementation of existing EU legislation and agreements applicable to settlement products."
12 jan 2016
The Israeli local committee for planning and construction announced its intent to expand Jerusalem’s light rail line, in a move dubbed by observers as an attempt to dismember the holy city.
Map expert Khalil Tafakji told a PIC journalist that the so-called Green Line project will serve as a connective tissue to the surrounding illegal Israeli settlements.
Tafakji added that the rail line starts from student halls in Jabal al-Masharif and crosses several crossroads and neighborhoods, including Sheikh Jarah, Central Jerusalem, the Hebrew University and Beit Safafa. The new line reaches as far as the southern outskirts of Occupied Jerusalem.
The expert said the project, which falls in line with the second phase of the light rail project, was published by an unknown newspaper on 31 December, 2015 and aims at cutting the holy city from limb to limb.
Map expert Khalil Tafakji told a PIC journalist that the so-called Green Line project will serve as a connective tissue to the surrounding illegal Israeli settlements.
Tafakji added that the rail line starts from student halls in Jabal al-Masharif and crosses several crossroads and neighborhoods, including Sheikh Jarah, Central Jerusalem, the Hebrew University and Beit Safafa. The new line reaches as far as the southern outskirts of Occupied Jerusalem.
The expert said the project, which falls in line with the second phase of the light rail project, was published by an unknown newspaper on 31 December, 2015 and aims at cutting the holy city from limb to limb.
Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian officials in charge of Israeli Settlements' file in the Palestinian Authority, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, has reported that Israel informed the Palestinian Authority of its intention to build six military towers, and to fence thousands of Dunams of Palestinian lands, in Nablus.
Daghlas stated that the Israeli decision aims at building six military towers on the road leading to the Yitzhar illegal colony, and to fence thousands of Palestinian Dunams of lands around Itamar illegal settlement, east of Nablus.
He added that the Israeli decision aims at confiscating thousands of Dunams of Palestinian lands, near the main road between Huwwara and Jeet Junction, south of Nablus, and to build six military towers, to “protect settlements’ roads.”
Daghlas further said that the Israeli decision would lead to depriving the Palestinians from even entering what is left of their lands, especially since those monitoring towers will turn the lands into "military zones."
"Building the six towers, in addition to the already existing tower, under the pretext of protecting the settlers, will lead to isolating and illegally confiscating thousands of Dunams of privately-owned Palestinian lands," he added.
In addition, Daghlas said that the soldiers already started digging in preparation from installing a fence on 10 kilometers between Awarta and Yamoun junctions, an issue that would lead to confiscating and isolating thousands of Dunams of Palestinian agricultural lands.
Israel has also informed the Palestinians of its intention to demolish eight agricultural structures, and homes, in Khirbit al-Marajeem area, between Douma and Talfit villages, south of Nablus.
Daghlas stated that the Israeli decision aims at building six military towers on the road leading to the Yitzhar illegal colony, and to fence thousands of Palestinian Dunams of lands around Itamar illegal settlement, east of Nablus.
He added that the Israeli decision aims at confiscating thousands of Dunams of Palestinian lands, near the main road between Huwwara and Jeet Junction, south of Nablus, and to build six military towers, to “protect settlements’ roads.”
Daghlas further said that the Israeli decision would lead to depriving the Palestinians from even entering what is left of their lands, especially since those monitoring towers will turn the lands into "military zones."
"Building the six towers, in addition to the already existing tower, under the pretext of protecting the settlers, will lead to isolating and illegally confiscating thousands of Dunams of privately-owned Palestinian lands," he added.
In addition, Daghlas said that the soldiers already started digging in preparation from installing a fence on 10 kilometers between Awarta and Yamoun junctions, an issue that would lead to confiscating and isolating thousands of Dunams of Palestinian agricultural lands.
Israel has also informed the Palestinians of its intention to demolish eight agricultural structures, and homes, in Khirbit al-Marajeem area, between Douma and Talfit villages, south of Nablus.
10 jan 2016
Israeli forces have been leveling private Palestinian land south of the occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem, in preparation to build a military tower in the area, residents said.
A resident of the village of Tuqu, Issa Froukh, told Ma’an News Agency that Israeli excavators have leveled 2.5 dunams (0.6 acres) of land since Wednesday, covering the area with cement.
Froukh said that the forces plan to build a military tower on the privately owned land, adding that Israeli authorities uprooted olive trees in the area about twelve years earlier.
An Israeli army spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
Last month, Israeli forces razed Palestinian lands in the Wadi Sair area, of the neighboring district of Hebron, also with the intention of constructing a new military tower.
Local activist Ahmad Halayqa said, at the time, that the tower would inhibit Palestinian movement in the area and would be located near the Asfar Israeli settlement, which was also built on Sair village land.
Since a wave of unrest spread across the occupied Palestinian territory in October, Israeli authorities have implemented flying checkpoints and road closures around Palestinian towns and villages, severely restricting movement.
The increased restrictions came in addition to the already-existing Israeli military infrastructure across the occupied area, where over 100 permanent military checkpoints are stationed, as well as temporary flying checkpoints which can number in the hundreds.
A resident of the village of Tuqu, Issa Froukh, told Ma’an News Agency that Israeli excavators have leveled 2.5 dunams (0.6 acres) of land since Wednesday, covering the area with cement.
Froukh said that the forces plan to build a military tower on the privately owned land, adding that Israeli authorities uprooted olive trees in the area about twelve years earlier.
An Israeli army spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
Last month, Israeli forces razed Palestinian lands in the Wadi Sair area, of the neighboring district of Hebron, also with the intention of constructing a new military tower.
Local activist Ahmad Halayqa said, at the time, that the tower would inhibit Palestinian movement in the area and would be located near the Asfar Israeli settlement, which was also built on Sair village land.
Since a wave of unrest spread across the occupied Palestinian territory in October, Israeli authorities have implemented flying checkpoints and road closures around Palestinian towns and villages, severely restricting movement.
The increased restrictions came in addition to the already-existing Israeli military infrastructure across the occupied area, where over 100 permanent military checkpoints are stationed, as well as temporary flying checkpoints which can number in the hundreds.
6 jan 2016
Israeli war minister Moshe Ya’alon has approved the expansion of the West Bank settlement bloc Gush Etzion to include 40 more dunums.
Ya’alon okayed construction that will allow for the creation of a new settlement on the land-plot, which formerly housed a Christian-run hospital, the Hebrew daily Ha’aretz reported Wednesday. The decision to approve construction on the plot was made in recent weeks, the report said.
The plot of land is located across from the al-Aroub refugee camp on Route 60, between the Etzion settlement bloc and al-Khalil. The site includes eight buildings, among them a large central structure and several smaller ones.
If populated, the outpost would help create an Israeli corridor stretching from Jerusalem to al-Khalil, which critics say would further complicate efforts to create a contiguous Palestinian state in the West Bank under a two-state peace deal, according to Ha’aretz.
Speaking during a visit to al-Khalil Hills in the southern West Bank in late September, Ya’alon said that “there is not, nor will there be, a freeze in settlement construction, given that our legitimacy to settle the land has come under attack.”
The property near al-Aroub is owned by Jerusalem City Council member Arieh King, who bought it three years ago and began refurbishing it with the intention of establishing a new settlement outpost there.
The purchase was funded by US millionaire and right-wing "philanthropist" Irving Moskowitz, a high-profile supporter of the Israeli settlements, through a series of shell corporations and charitable organizations in 2008, according to the Hebrew newspaper.
The church property was previously owned by a Presbyterian church in Pennsylvania through a group called “The Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions.”
The church sold the site when Joan Davenport, the nun who managed the property, left Israel. “We decided to finish our mission in Israel because they told us in Bethlehem that there were enough local Christians and that they did not need us,” she said.
"The nature of the site was kept a secret even from those working on it. A man who went by the name of Emanuel, who claimed to be Norwegian, dealt with the Palestinian workers in the compound.”
Emanuel claimed he wanted to merely restore the church to its former state, Ha'aretz reported.
“The Israeli Occupation Forces had been unaware of the site’s intended purpose when the refurbishment began, and security for the settlement-to-be was even handled by a private company.”
Local Palestinians have protested the site’s confiscation, placing Palestinian flags on the fence of the complex.
Ya’alon okayed construction that will allow for the creation of a new settlement on the land-plot, which formerly housed a Christian-run hospital, the Hebrew daily Ha’aretz reported Wednesday. The decision to approve construction on the plot was made in recent weeks, the report said.
The plot of land is located across from the al-Aroub refugee camp on Route 60, between the Etzion settlement bloc and al-Khalil. The site includes eight buildings, among them a large central structure and several smaller ones.
If populated, the outpost would help create an Israeli corridor stretching from Jerusalem to al-Khalil, which critics say would further complicate efforts to create a contiguous Palestinian state in the West Bank under a two-state peace deal, according to Ha’aretz.
Speaking during a visit to al-Khalil Hills in the southern West Bank in late September, Ya’alon said that “there is not, nor will there be, a freeze in settlement construction, given that our legitimacy to settle the land has come under attack.”
The property near al-Aroub is owned by Jerusalem City Council member Arieh King, who bought it three years ago and began refurbishing it with the intention of establishing a new settlement outpost there.
The purchase was funded by US millionaire and right-wing "philanthropist" Irving Moskowitz, a high-profile supporter of the Israeli settlements, through a series of shell corporations and charitable organizations in 2008, according to the Hebrew newspaper.
The church property was previously owned by a Presbyterian church in Pennsylvania through a group called “The Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions.”
The church sold the site when Joan Davenport, the nun who managed the property, left Israel. “We decided to finish our mission in Israel because they told us in Bethlehem that there were enough local Christians and that they did not need us,” she said.
"The nature of the site was kept a secret even from those working on it. A man who went by the name of Emanuel, who claimed to be Norwegian, dealt with the Palestinian workers in the compound.”
Emanuel claimed he wanted to merely restore the church to its former state, Ha'aretz reported.
“The Israeli Occupation Forces had been unaware of the site’s intended purpose when the refurbishment began, and security for the settlement-to-be was even handled by a private company.”
Local Palestinians have protested the site’s confiscation, placing Palestinian flags on the fence of the complex.
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Israeli forces, on Wednesday morning, demolished five dwellings housing Palestinian Bedouin families in the Abu Nuwwar community east of Jerusalem -- part of the wider E1 corridor -- leaving 25 people homeless.
Dawood al-Jahalin, a spokesperson for the Abu Nuwwar Bedouin community, told Ma'an News Agency that Israeli military and police vehicles surrounded the area at around 8:30 a.m., before bulldozers demolished five dwellings and an agricultural structure. The families were not given any time to remove their belongings before the dwellings -- made of steel, wood, and canvas -- were torn down, he said. |
"I showed them a court decision banning demolition, but the officer in charge refused to see it and instead told me he had a demolition order from the Civil Administration," al-Jahalin said.
He said that the Israeli authorities had repeatedly attempted to persuade the families to leave their land. "They offers us blank checks and alternative land, but we refused and will continue to refuse to leave our land, and we will rebuild the dwellings this evening."
Israel's Civil Administration said in a statement that the families had refused to move to "legal buildings with appropriate infrastructure near their current illegal structures." As a result, it said two "illegal structures" were demolished following "the required executive procedures."
Abu Nuwwar is one of several Bedouin villages facing forced evacuation due to plans by Israeli authorities to build thousands of homes for Jewish-only settlements in the E1 corridor.
Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to suspend work on the housing units in 2013, settlement watchdog Peace Now reported last week that the Ministry of Housing has "quietly" continued planning 8,372 homes in the corridor.
Settlement construction in E1 would effectively divide the West Bank and make the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state -- as envisaged by the internationally backed two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict -- almost impossible.
Israeli activity in E1 has attracted widespread international condemnation, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has in the past said that "E1 is a red line that cannot be crossed."
He said that the Israeli authorities had repeatedly attempted to persuade the families to leave their land. "They offers us blank checks and alternative land, but we refused and will continue to refuse to leave our land, and we will rebuild the dwellings this evening."
Israel's Civil Administration said in a statement that the families had refused to move to "legal buildings with appropriate infrastructure near their current illegal structures." As a result, it said two "illegal structures" were demolished following "the required executive procedures."
Abu Nuwwar is one of several Bedouin villages facing forced evacuation due to plans by Israeli authorities to build thousands of homes for Jewish-only settlements in the E1 corridor.
Although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was forced to suspend work on the housing units in 2013, settlement watchdog Peace Now reported last week that the Ministry of Housing has "quietly" continued planning 8,372 homes in the corridor.
Settlement construction in E1 would effectively divide the West Bank and make the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state -- as envisaged by the internationally backed two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict -- almost impossible.
Israeli activity in E1 has attracted widespread international condemnation, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has in the past said that "E1 is a red line that cannot be crossed."
1 jan 2015
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Thursday started the construction of a military watchtower at the entrance to Sa’ir town, in eastern al-Khalil city.
Sa’ir mayor, Kayed Jaradat, said in a press statement the Israeli occupation army bulldozed a Palestinian land owned by Ismail al-Shalaldeh, in a move aimed at paving the way for the establishment of a military watchtower in the area.
Jaradat added that the IOF has increasingly seized Palestinian lands in the area under the security pretext.
The mayor voiced concern that the IOF would confiscate other Palestinian land lots under the same pretext.
Over recent weeks, the Israeli occupation army has tightened military grip around al-Khalil province in an attempt to snuff out the flames of the ongoing anti-occupation Jerusalem Intifada (Uprising), which started in early October.
Sa’ir mayor, Kayed Jaradat, said in a press statement the Israeli occupation army bulldozed a Palestinian land owned by Ismail al-Shalaldeh, in a move aimed at paving the way for the establishment of a military watchtower in the area.
Jaradat added that the IOF has increasingly seized Palestinian lands in the area under the security pretext.
The mayor voiced concern that the IOF would confiscate other Palestinian land lots under the same pretext.
Over recent weeks, the Israeli occupation army has tightened military grip around al-Khalil province in an attempt to snuff out the flames of the ongoing anti-occupation Jerusalem Intifada (Uprising), which started in early October.
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