21 dec 2016
The Israeli Ministry of Public Security intends to install a checkpoint in southern occupied Jerusalem to enable Israeli settlers to reach Ein Haniya spring which, in turn, will prevent Palestinians from reaching it.
Hebrew newspaper Haaretz said on Tuesday that Ein Haniya spring is located on the Wallaja/Har Gilo road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
In the past few months, Jerusalem Development Authority, Antiquities Authority, Nature and Parks Authority, and National parks were carrying out archaeological excavations in the place. As part of the excavations, ponds were drained and streets were built and an old building was renovated into a restaurant.
Hebrew newspaper Haaretz said on Tuesday that Ein Haniya spring is located on the Wallaja/Har Gilo road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
In the past few months, Jerusalem Development Authority, Antiquities Authority, Nature and Parks Authority, and National parks were carrying out archaeological excavations in the place. As part of the excavations, ponds were drained and streets were built and an old building was renovated into a restaurant.
19 dec 2016
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) said that around 120 dunums of Palestinian lands in Silwad town to the east of Ramallah city in the central West Bank will be confiscated and allocated for the settlers evacuated from Amona outpost.
The mayor of Silwad, Abdulrahman Saleh, said that the IOA notified the village’s municipality of the confiscation of the lands owned by Palestinian citizens who have official documents proving that.
The Quds Press news agency said that Saleh warned on Monday of an Israeli scheme to relocate Amona settlers in Silwad. The municipality of Silwad filed an objection against the measure with an Israeli court.
He pointed out that the inhabitants of Silwad previously foiled two Israeli schemes to seize lands in the town after proving their ownership of the lands and that they are not state or absentee lands.
However, the mayor said that there are great concerns about the relocation of Amona settlers and their caravans to the confiscated lands, especially that the court's ruling may take months or years to be issued.
Amona outpost, built on a private Palestinian land to the northeast of Ramallah city, is inhabited by 40 Jewish families and considered an illegal settlement according to the international and Israeli laws.
Amona issue has ranked at the top of the Israeli government's agenda in the recent weeks, due to which many internal conflicts have emerged trying to find a solution that prevents the evacuation of the outpost. These conflicts led minister of education Naftali Bennett and his party "The Jewish Home" to abstain from supporting draft laws presented by the government.
Yedioth Ahronoth Hebrew newspaper said that 45 settlers from Amona outpost agreed on a compromise solution formula proposed by the Israeli government while 29 settlers opposed it. According to this proposal every family who lived in the settlement before 25th December 2014 will be given one million shekels as compensation.
The mayor of Silwad, Abdulrahman Saleh, said that the IOA notified the village’s municipality of the confiscation of the lands owned by Palestinian citizens who have official documents proving that.
The Quds Press news agency said that Saleh warned on Monday of an Israeli scheme to relocate Amona settlers in Silwad. The municipality of Silwad filed an objection against the measure with an Israeli court.
He pointed out that the inhabitants of Silwad previously foiled two Israeli schemes to seize lands in the town after proving their ownership of the lands and that they are not state or absentee lands.
However, the mayor said that there are great concerns about the relocation of Amona settlers and their caravans to the confiscated lands, especially that the court's ruling may take months or years to be issued.
Amona outpost, built on a private Palestinian land to the northeast of Ramallah city, is inhabited by 40 Jewish families and considered an illegal settlement according to the international and Israeli laws.
Amona issue has ranked at the top of the Israeli government's agenda in the recent weeks, due to which many internal conflicts have emerged trying to find a solution that prevents the evacuation of the outpost. These conflicts led minister of education Naftali Bennett and his party "The Jewish Home" to abstain from supporting draft laws presented by the government.
Yedioth Ahronoth Hebrew newspaper said that 45 settlers from Amona outpost agreed on a compromise solution formula proposed by the Israeli government while 29 settlers opposed it. According to this proposal every family who lived in the settlement before 25th December 2014 will be given one million shekels as compensation.
Residents of the illegal settlement outpost of Amona, in the central occupied West Bank. voted on Sunday to approve a relocation plan put forward by the Israeli government, after weeks of discussions trying to assuage settler anger over the mandated evacuation of the outpost.
Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported that the settlers residing in Amona, in the Ramallah district — an outpost considered illegal by both the Israeli government and the international community — had decided to accept an evacuation plan which would see the majority of them relocated to a nearby hilltop by Dec. 25, following a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court stating that the outpost was illegally built on privately owned Palestinian land.
“After 20 years of pioneering settlement, and against all odds, and after two years of struggle, we have decided to suspend our struggle, and take the government’s offer to build 52 houses and public buildings in new Amona,” Ynet quoted the Amona settlers as saying.
Ma’an News Agency further reports that, a week prior, several hundred ultra-religious right-wing Israelis set up camp in Amona, in anticipation of the outpost’s impending evacuation, raising tensions over a potentially violent confrontation between the settlers and Israeli forces.
Amona settlers had rejected previous plans which would have seen only half of them relocated nearby, whereas the current agreement will reportedly see almost all of them staying in the area.
However, Israeli rights group “Peace Now” has noted that the plan would have the settlers relocate to land privately owned by Palestinians, stating that “the Israeli government is replacing one land theft by another.”
Meanwhile, Amona Rabbi Yair Frank warned that, if the settlers deemed that the Israeli government was not fulfilling its part of the deal, “we will not hesitate to renew the fight,” Ynet reported, quoting the rabbi as saying that “we have no doubts that we’ll return to the whole mountain.”
In a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated the Israeli government’s “goodwill and love for settlement,” in finding a solution that would satisfy the Amona settlers.
“There has not been a government that showed more concern for settlement in the Land of Israel and no government will show more concern,” Netanyahu told the cabinet.
Haaretz reported that the Israeli government was set to approve a budget amounting to 130 million shekels ($33.5 million) for the relocation, which will include compensation, for the displaced settlers, and the establishment of a new settlement near the illegal outpost of Shvut Rachel.
Opposition lawmaker Tzipi Livni was quoted, by Haaretz, as lamenting that the agreement reached on Sunday was a sign that “the threat of violence works. What remains of Amona isn’t Zionism, settlement or any other value — just that the Israeli government caves to strongmen.”
Meanwhile, Ynet reported that the head of the Binyamin settlement regional council, Yossi Dagan, bemoaned the forced displacement of Amona, claiming that such procedures “would never have happened to the Bedouin in the Negev or any other population” — a statement which completely disregarded Israeli authorities’ policy of wide-scale demolition of Bedouin villages in the Negev and of Palestinian homes and buildings in Area C of the West Bank.
While the settler outposts constructed in Palestinian territory are considered illegal by the Israeli government, each of the some 196 government-approved Israeli settlements scattered across the West Bank are also built in direct violation of international law.
Members of the international community have rested the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the discontinuation of illegal Israeli settlements and the establishment of a two-state solution. However, Israeli leaders have, instead, shifted farther to the right, as many Knesset members have called for an escalation of settlement building in the occupied West Bank, and some have advocated for its complete annexation.
A number of Palestinian activists have criticized the two-state solution as unsustainable and unlikely to bring durable peace, proposing instead a bi-national state with equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians.
Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported that the settlers residing in Amona, in the Ramallah district — an outpost considered illegal by both the Israeli government and the international community — had decided to accept an evacuation plan which would see the majority of them relocated to a nearby hilltop by Dec. 25, following a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court stating that the outpost was illegally built on privately owned Palestinian land.
“After 20 years of pioneering settlement, and against all odds, and after two years of struggle, we have decided to suspend our struggle, and take the government’s offer to build 52 houses and public buildings in new Amona,” Ynet quoted the Amona settlers as saying.
Ma’an News Agency further reports that, a week prior, several hundred ultra-religious right-wing Israelis set up camp in Amona, in anticipation of the outpost’s impending evacuation, raising tensions over a potentially violent confrontation between the settlers and Israeli forces.
Amona settlers had rejected previous plans which would have seen only half of them relocated nearby, whereas the current agreement will reportedly see almost all of them staying in the area.
However, Israeli rights group “Peace Now” has noted that the plan would have the settlers relocate to land privately owned by Palestinians, stating that “the Israeli government is replacing one land theft by another.”
Meanwhile, Amona Rabbi Yair Frank warned that, if the settlers deemed that the Israeli government was not fulfilling its part of the deal, “we will not hesitate to renew the fight,” Ynet reported, quoting the rabbi as saying that “we have no doubts that we’ll return to the whole mountain.”
In a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated the Israeli government’s “goodwill and love for settlement,” in finding a solution that would satisfy the Amona settlers.
“There has not been a government that showed more concern for settlement in the Land of Israel and no government will show more concern,” Netanyahu told the cabinet.
Haaretz reported that the Israeli government was set to approve a budget amounting to 130 million shekels ($33.5 million) for the relocation, which will include compensation, for the displaced settlers, and the establishment of a new settlement near the illegal outpost of Shvut Rachel.
Opposition lawmaker Tzipi Livni was quoted, by Haaretz, as lamenting that the agreement reached on Sunday was a sign that “the threat of violence works. What remains of Amona isn’t Zionism, settlement or any other value — just that the Israeli government caves to strongmen.”
Meanwhile, Ynet reported that the head of the Binyamin settlement regional council, Yossi Dagan, bemoaned the forced displacement of Amona, claiming that such procedures “would never have happened to the Bedouin in the Negev or any other population” — a statement which completely disregarded Israeli authorities’ policy of wide-scale demolition of Bedouin villages in the Negev and of Palestinian homes and buildings in Area C of the West Bank.
While the settler outposts constructed in Palestinian territory are considered illegal by the Israeli government, each of the some 196 government-approved Israeli settlements scattered across the West Bank are also built in direct violation of international law.
Members of the international community have rested the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the discontinuation of illegal Israeli settlements and the establishment of a two-state solution. However, Israeli leaders have, instead, shifted farther to the right, as many Knesset members have called for an escalation of settlement building in the occupied West Bank, and some have advocated for its complete annexation.
A number of Palestinian activists have criticized the two-state solution as unsustainable and unlikely to bring durable peace, proposing instead a bi-national state with equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians.
17 dec 2016
Israeli media, on Wednesday, said that 40 Israeli families have rejected a government plan to be relocated from their houses.
PNN reports that, according to Israeli media, the offer proposed by Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, and approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was to “relocate the homes to abandoned Palestinian property on the same hilltop, where the West Bank outpost of Amona is currently located.”
However, the settlers said that the offer was so full of holes it was like “Swiss Cheese” and provided a solution for only a quarter of the families, and that they were prepared for a solution of rebuilding new homes on the same hilltop, and not destroying the current structures until the new ones had been completed.
The controversy over Amona started in 201,4 when the Israeli High Court of Justice had ruled that the outpost must be demolished by December 25, 2016, because they were built without permits on private Palestinian property.
Israeli settlements are illegal in international law.
PNN reports that, according to Israeli media, the offer proposed by Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, and approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was to “relocate the homes to abandoned Palestinian property on the same hilltop, where the West Bank outpost of Amona is currently located.”
However, the settlers said that the offer was so full of holes it was like “Swiss Cheese” and provided a solution for only a quarter of the families, and that they were prepared for a solution of rebuilding new homes on the same hilltop, and not destroying the current structures until the new ones had been completed.
The controversy over Amona started in 201,4 when the Israeli High Court of Justice had ruled that the outpost must be demolished by December 25, 2016, because they were built without permits on private Palestinian property.
Israeli settlements are illegal in international law.
14 dec 2016
Eyewitnesses reported that a number of Israeli settlers are expanding an outpost they recently started to establish in Khillat Hamad area in the northern Jordan Valley.
They told the PIC reporter that the Israeli settlers brought on Monday tractors and plowed the lands of the site they took over two months ago.
On Tuesday, they added, the Israeli settlers brought construction materials in preparation for the construction of a settlement outpost in the area.
The Israeli occupation authorities have recently intensified the confiscation operations and military training in the northern Jordan Valley.
They told the PIC reporter that the Israeli settlers brought on Monday tractors and plowed the lands of the site they took over two months ago.
On Tuesday, they added, the Israeli settlers brought construction materials in preparation for the construction of a settlement outpost in the area.
The Israeli occupation authorities have recently intensified the confiscation operations and military training in the northern Jordan Valley.
13 dec 2016
The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced a series of upcoming events to celebrate the so-called "Golden jubilee of Jerusalem's re-unification", which marks the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem.
For her part, Israel's minister of culture, Miri Regev, revealed that "an old newly-discovered tunnel" stretching from the south of the Old City in Silwan to al-Aqsa Mosque will be opened in conjunction with the launch of the golden jubilee's events in the Hanukkah, or the Jewish Festival of Lights.
Both Netanyahu and Regev attacked the UNESCO for its latest statement which confirms that there is no relation between Israel and Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque. Netanyahu claimed, "The Jews have ties with the entire land of Palestine and not only Jerusalem."
In the Israeli government's weakly statement, Netanyahu said, "Jerusalem is Israel's vibrant capital and it is being reconstructed." He also added, "The 50th anniversary of the re-unification of Jerusalem is a great event in the Jewish and Israeli history that will be properly celebrated."
Regev said that the Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the Antiquities Authority will inaugurate during Hanukkah festival one of Jerusalem's old streets where the Maccabees used to walk two thousand years ago.
She added that she considers the project of discovering the antiquities of the Old City and continuing the excavation works there as an important national project for Israel in general and the Ministry of Culture and Sports in particular.
The right-wing extremist minister pointed out that the excavation works led to finding a coin belonging to the series of currencies that had been minted between 66 and 70 AD. She claimed that Hebrew letters were engraved on one side of the coin saying "Liberty of Zion ".
For her part, Israel's minister of culture, Miri Regev, revealed that "an old newly-discovered tunnel" stretching from the south of the Old City in Silwan to al-Aqsa Mosque will be opened in conjunction with the launch of the golden jubilee's events in the Hanukkah, or the Jewish Festival of Lights.
Both Netanyahu and Regev attacked the UNESCO for its latest statement which confirms that there is no relation between Israel and Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque. Netanyahu claimed, "The Jews have ties with the entire land of Palestine and not only Jerusalem."
In the Israeli government's weakly statement, Netanyahu said, "Jerusalem is Israel's vibrant capital and it is being reconstructed." He also added, "The 50th anniversary of the re-unification of Jerusalem is a great event in the Jewish and Israeli history that will be properly celebrated."
Regev said that the Ministry of Culture in cooperation with the Antiquities Authority will inaugurate during Hanukkah festival one of Jerusalem's old streets where the Maccabees used to walk two thousand years ago.
She added that she considers the project of discovering the antiquities of the Old City and continuing the excavation works there as an important national project for Israel in general and the Ministry of Culture and Sports in particular.
The right-wing extremist minister pointed out that the excavation works led to finding a coin belonging to the series of currencies that had been minted between 66 and 70 AD. She claimed that Hebrew letters were engraved on one side of the coin saying "Liberty of Zion ".
12 dec 2016
Netanyahu and Bennett formulate new solution circumventing comprehensive evacuation of Amona by transferring homes to a different location while remaining on the Amona mountain itself; Solution’s success depends on acquiescence of residents to evacuate peacefully; Bennett: ‘This is a new plan with greater longevity on a massive space.’
Naftali Bennett announced a new solution to the Amona evacuation on Monday afternoon, formulated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would require the residents to relocate while remaining on the mountain.
According to the new solution, which was presided over during the last few days in a bid to quash the risk of matters escalating out of control as authorities prepare to implement court orders to remove the residents, homes belonging to 40 families will be transferred to available land in a different area in the outpost on condition that their owners acquiesce in the evacuation of their original location.
The solution is set to be put before the residents who will be required to approve the newest development. Politicians have said that a pragmatic solution to the debacle now hinges upon the decision of the residents. “If they agree, we will go with this solution,” one official said.
“After a lot of effort we succeeded in formulating a good plan to use absentee landowners’ land and we stuck to the targets we set for ourselves—to keep Amona on the mountain,” Bennett delighted. “This is a new plan with greater longevity on a massive space, with huge potential for the future,” he added.
Last week, the government considered a solution in which the forty families from the outpost would be transferred to temporary caravans in the adjacent settlement of Ofra and perhaps relocated to a new settlement.
As part of the old proposed solution, a new settlement was set to be established for the evacuated residents near Shvut Rachel in the Binyamin region.
If the latest solution is countenanced by the residents however, they will be enabled to maintain their presence on the Amona mountain, albeit in new location on its peaks.
The Bayit Yehudi party leader promised that the solution would be put before the residents for their consideration. “I believe that we will obtain their approval for the new land on the mountain of Amona in the way of peace,” he optimistically continued. “This way we can appeal to the High Court to grant an extension.“
Reiterating remarks made last week as he praised the passing of the first Knesset reading of the Regulation Bill, Bennett implored Amona residents or supporters to refrain from resorting to violence.
“Most importantly I want to state unequivocally—it is totally forbidden, in any situation, under any condition, to act violently for any purpose,” he said.
According to initial evaluations, the new solution will implement a project by which Area 30— containing some 25 dunams of available space— will be freed up in the outpost making way for the transfer of the homes while remaining on the mountain. If the residents agree to the proposal, Bayit Yehudi, the chief advocates of the Amona outpost, will request a 30 day extension.
Naftali Bennett announced a new solution to the Amona evacuation on Monday afternoon, formulated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would require the residents to relocate while remaining on the mountain.
According to the new solution, which was presided over during the last few days in a bid to quash the risk of matters escalating out of control as authorities prepare to implement court orders to remove the residents, homes belonging to 40 families will be transferred to available land in a different area in the outpost on condition that their owners acquiesce in the evacuation of their original location.
The solution is set to be put before the residents who will be required to approve the newest development. Politicians have said that a pragmatic solution to the debacle now hinges upon the decision of the residents. “If they agree, we will go with this solution,” one official said.
“After a lot of effort we succeeded in formulating a good plan to use absentee landowners’ land and we stuck to the targets we set for ourselves—to keep Amona on the mountain,” Bennett delighted. “This is a new plan with greater longevity on a massive space, with huge potential for the future,” he added.
Last week, the government considered a solution in which the forty families from the outpost would be transferred to temporary caravans in the adjacent settlement of Ofra and perhaps relocated to a new settlement.
As part of the old proposed solution, a new settlement was set to be established for the evacuated residents near Shvut Rachel in the Binyamin region.
If the latest solution is countenanced by the residents however, they will be enabled to maintain their presence on the Amona mountain, albeit in new location on its peaks.
The Bayit Yehudi party leader promised that the solution would be put before the residents for their consideration. “I believe that we will obtain their approval for the new land on the mountain of Amona in the way of peace,” he optimistically continued. “This way we can appeal to the High Court to grant an extension.“
Reiterating remarks made last week as he praised the passing of the first Knesset reading of the Regulation Bill, Bennett implored Amona residents or supporters to refrain from resorting to violence.
“Most importantly I want to state unequivocally—it is totally forbidden, in any situation, under any condition, to act violently for any purpose,” he said.
According to initial evaluations, the new solution will implement a project by which Area 30— containing some 25 dunams of available space— will be freed up in the outpost making way for the transfer of the homes while remaining on the mountain. If the residents agree to the proposal, Bayit Yehudi, the chief advocates of the Amona outpost, will request a 30 day extension.
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