20 jan 2017
The Mateh Binyamin regional council, which is responsible for 42 illegal Israeli settlements and outposts in the West Bank, has placed 12 mobile homes near Ofra settlement for the Amona settlers.
According to Haaretz newspaper on Friday, these makeshift homes were sited illegally in order to accommodate the settlers who will be evacuated from the illegal outpost of Amona.
It claimed that the Israeli army’s civil administration might take a measure against this step.
Amona outpost was supposed to be evacuated last December 2016 according to a court order, but the Israeli government managed to extract a verdict from the high court of justice delaying the evacuation until early February.
The Israeli government is trying nowadays to illegally seize Palestinian-owned lands near the outpost in order to establish homes on them for Amona settlers.
According to Haaretz newspaper on Friday, these makeshift homes were sited illegally in order to accommodate the settlers who will be evacuated from the illegal outpost of Amona.
It claimed that the Israeli army’s civil administration might take a measure against this step.
Amona outpost was supposed to be evacuated last December 2016 according to a court order, but the Israeli government managed to extract a verdict from the high court of justice delaying the evacuation until early February.
The Israeli government is trying nowadays to illegally seize Palestinian-owned lands near the outpost in order to establish homes on them for Amona settlers.
Construction work in Tzur Hadassah settlement, which is located close to Wadi Fukin village in Bethlehem, has spread over the pre-1967 border, Haaretz newspaper said.
In the eastern part of the settlement, extensive work has been underway to increase its size with the construction of 1,150 housing units, but it has now emerged that some of the construction has encroached into the lands of the village of Wadi Fukin in the West Bank, according to the newspaper.
The construction work has added about 30 dunums to Tzur Hadassah’s area, the newspaper noted.
Wadi Fukin is a small village wedged between Tzur Hadassah and the large settlement of Beitar Illit.
In 1948, sizable areas that were owned by residents of the village were expropriated by Israel as absentee property. Additional areas from the village were confiscated later for the construction of Beitar Illit.
In August 2014, the state declared another 1,748 dunums of the village land as state lands. That confiscation was among many punitive measures taken then by the Israeli government against the Palestinians after the abduction and killing of three Jewish teens from nearby Gush Etzion.
In the eastern part of the settlement, extensive work has been underway to increase its size with the construction of 1,150 housing units, but it has now emerged that some of the construction has encroached into the lands of the village of Wadi Fukin in the West Bank, according to the newspaper.
The construction work has added about 30 dunums to Tzur Hadassah’s area, the newspaper noted.
Wadi Fukin is a small village wedged between Tzur Hadassah and the large settlement of Beitar Illit.
In 1948, sizable areas that were owned by residents of the village were expropriated by Israel as absentee property. Additional areas from the village were confiscated later for the construction of Beitar Illit.
In August 2014, the state declared another 1,748 dunums of the village land as state lands. That confiscation was among many punitive measures taken then by the Israeli government against the Palestinians after the abduction and killing of three Jewish teens from nearby Gush Etzion.
An Israeli highway leading from Tel Aviv to Occupied Jerusalem was inaugurated Friday morning.
The move has brought into operation new tunnels expected to drastically slash Israelis’ travel time to the city.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the inauguration of the tunnels “a historic moment” for the road to Occupied Jerusalem, noting that it had greatly shortened the distance to the holy city.
The move has brought into operation new tunnels expected to drastically slash Israelis’ travel time to the city.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the inauguration of the tunnels “a historic moment” for the road to Occupied Jerusalem, noting that it had greatly shortened the distance to the holy city.
The council of foreign ministers of member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) issued a declaration following an extraordinary meeting held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday, 19 January, reaffirming the centrality of the Palestinian cause for the Islamic world.
In their declaration, the OIC member states have recalled all relevant resolutions adopted by the OIC, the UN General Assembly and Security Council, on the illegal Israeli practices in the occupied territories of the State of Palestine, including east Jerusalem.
The member states reiterated their unequivocal condemnation of all the illegal settlement activities perpetrated by Israel, the occupying power, to colonize the occupied Palestinian land, including east Jerusalem.
They welcomed the UN Security Council’s adoption of resolution No. 2334 for 2016, which provides, among other things, for the non-recognition of any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including east Jerusalem.
They emphasized the importance of this resolution in ensuring better prospects for a just, durable and comprehensive peace, and condemned statements and positions opposing the said resolution as “incompatible with the international law and the requisites for the achievement of peace.”
They stressed the importance of Jerusalem to the Muslim nation religiously and spiritually and rejected any steps or attempts undermining or denying the Palestinian right to full sovereignty over east Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine.
They called upon all foreign states and their officials to desist from any activities or statements that might support or encourage Israel, the occupying power, to persist in its violations against the Palestinians and in its illegal occupation and annexation of east Jerusalem.
They warned, in particular, against any intent to relocate diplomatic missions to the holy city or hold official meetings there.
Finally, the member states renewed their vow to continue extending assistance to Palestine and rally international support for the Palestinian people and their national rights, especially their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital.
In their declaration, the OIC member states have recalled all relevant resolutions adopted by the OIC, the UN General Assembly and Security Council, on the illegal Israeli practices in the occupied territories of the State of Palestine, including east Jerusalem.
The member states reiterated their unequivocal condemnation of all the illegal settlement activities perpetrated by Israel, the occupying power, to colonize the occupied Palestinian land, including east Jerusalem.
They welcomed the UN Security Council’s adoption of resolution No. 2334 for 2016, which provides, among other things, for the non-recognition of any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including east Jerusalem.
They emphasized the importance of this resolution in ensuring better prospects for a just, durable and comprehensive peace, and condemned statements and positions opposing the said resolution as “incompatible with the international law and the requisites for the achievement of peace.”
They stressed the importance of Jerusalem to the Muslim nation religiously and spiritually and rejected any steps or attempts undermining or denying the Palestinian right to full sovereignty over east Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine.
They called upon all foreign states and their officials to desist from any activities or statements that might support or encourage Israel, the occupying power, to persist in its violations against the Palestinians and in its illegal occupation and annexation of east Jerusalem.
They warned, in particular, against any intent to relocate diplomatic missions to the holy city or hold official meetings there.
Finally, the member states renewed their vow to continue extending assistance to Palestine and rally international support for the Palestinian people and their national rights, especially their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital.
2,700 new Israeli settlements units have been approved early Friday in Gush Etzion illegal settlement only few hours ahead of US president Donald Trump’s inauguration.
US flags were raised throughout the settlement celebrating the inauguration and presidency of Donald Trump.
The newly approved housing units had been frozen because of the international criticism of settlement activity in the last three years.
However, Israeli authorities decided to step up settlement construction after Trump’s election as US President.
Representatives of Israeli settlers have reportedly received an invitation to attend Trump's inauguration ceremony.
US flags were raised throughout the settlement celebrating the inauguration and presidency of Donald Trump.
The newly approved housing units had been frozen because of the international criticism of settlement activity in the last three years.
However, Israeli authorities decided to step up settlement construction after Trump’s election as US President.
Representatives of Israeli settlers have reportedly received an invitation to attend Trump's inauguration ceremony.
19 jan 2017
Two right-wing Knesset members have announced they will bring a new bill for the annexation of the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem to a vote at the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday.
Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Israeli sources saying that MKs Bezalel Smotrich (Bayit Yehudi) and Yoav Kisch (Likud), heads of the Knesset’s Land of Israel Lobby, proposed the bill.
Smotrich and Kish called for making the most of the window of opportunity provided by the administration change in the US and imposing Israel’s sovereignty over what they claim to be the Jews’ historical land.
“I believe that this is the gift which the Israeli nation deserves, in preparation for [president-elect] Donald Trump`s inauguration, and the necessary change of policy in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank),” Smotrich said during a special Knesset session last Tuesday.
For his part, Kisch said that “he does not want the peace of those who believe that applying sovereignty over Ma’ale Adumim is an obstacle to peace.”
“We use the word ‘applying sovereignty’ and not ‘annexation.’ We apply sovereignty over what belongs to us,” he added.
In early January, Habayit Hayehudi chairman and minister of education Naftali Bennett called on the government coalition to pass a law annexing Ma’ale Adumim, a large settlement east of Jerusalem, to Israel by the end of the month.
"Before the end of January, we, together with all the coalition parties, will propose a bill for the imposition of Israeli law on Ma’ale Adumim," Bennett said. "I expect all members of the government to support the bill."
Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Israeli sources saying that MKs Bezalel Smotrich (Bayit Yehudi) and Yoav Kisch (Likud), heads of the Knesset’s Land of Israel Lobby, proposed the bill.
Smotrich and Kish called for making the most of the window of opportunity provided by the administration change in the US and imposing Israel’s sovereignty over what they claim to be the Jews’ historical land.
“I believe that this is the gift which the Israeli nation deserves, in preparation for [president-elect] Donald Trump`s inauguration, and the necessary change of policy in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank),” Smotrich said during a special Knesset session last Tuesday.
For his part, Kisch said that “he does not want the peace of those who believe that applying sovereignty over Ma’ale Adumim is an obstacle to peace.”
“We use the word ‘applying sovereignty’ and not ‘annexation.’ We apply sovereignty over what belongs to us,” he added.
In early January, Habayit Hayehudi chairman and minister of education Naftali Bennett called on the government coalition to pass a law annexing Ma’ale Adumim, a large settlement east of Jerusalem, to Israel by the end of the month.
"Before the end of January, we, together with all the coalition parties, will propose a bill for the imposition of Israeli law on Ma’ale Adumim," Bennett said. "I expect all members of the government to support the bill."
18 jan 2017
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) launched on Wednesday an international campaign to organize an international conference against Israeli settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The PLO's Expatriates Affairs department announced inviting a number of European parties, human rights institutions, and parliamentary organizations to participate in the anti-settlement campaign following the UN Security Council's resolution No. 2334 which rejected Israel's settlement policy and called for ending it.
A joint delegation from the Expatriates Affairs and the National Office for the Defense of Land has recently visited Germany and Denmark in preparation for holding an anti-settlement Palestinian-European conference.
Ali Abu Hilal, director general of the Expatriates Affairs department, said in an interview with al-Quds Press news agency that the campaign plans to benefit from the Security Council's latest resolution and pressure Israel to stop the settlement activities.
Abu Hilal revealed a decision to hold the conference in Brussels next March at the European parliament to create a large international coalition that involves official and civil institutions and parties.
He pointed out that the conference "aims to draw an international plan against the Israeli settlement activity and convince the European governments to act against it".
The resolution No. 2334, which was adopted by the Security Council on 23rd December 2016, called for a halt to the building of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and condemned their establishment. 14 countries, out of the 15 members of the Security Council, voted in favor of the resolution while the United States abstained.
The PLO's Expatriates Affairs department announced inviting a number of European parties, human rights institutions, and parliamentary organizations to participate in the anti-settlement campaign following the UN Security Council's resolution No. 2334 which rejected Israel's settlement policy and called for ending it.
A joint delegation from the Expatriates Affairs and the National Office for the Defense of Land has recently visited Germany and Denmark in preparation for holding an anti-settlement Palestinian-European conference.
Ali Abu Hilal, director general of the Expatriates Affairs department, said in an interview with al-Quds Press news agency that the campaign plans to benefit from the Security Council's latest resolution and pressure Israel to stop the settlement activities.
Abu Hilal revealed a decision to hold the conference in Brussels next March at the European parliament to create a large international coalition that involves official and civil institutions and parties.
He pointed out that the conference "aims to draw an international plan against the Israeli settlement activity and convince the European governments to act against it".
The resolution No. 2334, which was adopted by the Security Council on 23rd December 2016, called for a halt to the building of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and condemned their establishment. 14 countries, out of the 15 members of the Security Council, voted in favor of the resolution while the United States abstained.
14 jan 2017
The Israeli municipal authority in Occupied Jerusalem intends to accelerate procedures to build the hotel zone on a hill in Jabel Mukaber neighborhood, south of the Aqsa Mosque.
Deputy head of the Israeli municipality Meir Turgeman, chairman of the planning and building board, invited the companies that won tenders for the building of six hotels to a meeting during the current week to brief them on the details of the new plan to speed the launch of the project.
According to the Hebrew newspaper Iroshalim, there are Israeli intents to enable the construction contractors to obtain building permits as quickly as possible through shrinking the bureaucratic procedures pursued by the municipality.
The newspaper quoted Turgeman as saying that this step would be the appropriate response to the recent Jerusalem ramming attack.
He also said that the municipality would support construction projects everywhere in the city to promote Israel’s hegemony over Jerusalem.
Deputy head of the Israeli municipality Meir Turgeman, chairman of the planning and building board, invited the companies that won tenders for the building of six hotels to a meeting during the current week to brief them on the details of the new plan to speed the launch of the project.
According to the Hebrew newspaper Iroshalim, there are Israeli intents to enable the construction contractors to obtain building permits as quickly as possible through shrinking the bureaucratic procedures pursued by the municipality.
The newspaper quoted Turgeman as saying that this step would be the appropriate response to the recent Jerusalem ramming attack.
He also said that the municipality would support construction projects everywhere in the city to promote Israel’s hegemony over Jerusalem.
12 jan 2017
Israeli forces uprooted and cut down tens of olive trees in the Karam al-Mufti area of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday, as part of an ongoing construction of a road connecting a nearby illegal settlement with the Israeli ministry of interior, according to locals.
Local activist Muhammad Abu al-Hummus told Ma’an that Israeli authorities have been uprooting and cutting down tens of olive trees planted in the area for the last week, transferring the trees to unknown locations.
According to al-Hummus, Israeli authorities put signs in the Karam al-Mufti area last year, declaring that construction works would be conducted on the land “in accordance with articles 5 and 7 of the law,” the construction and planning law regulated 1965 and plan number 4329.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Jerusalem Municipality was not immediately available for comment.
Local activist Muhammad Abu al-Hummus told Ma’an that Israeli authorities have been uprooting and cutting down tens of olive trees planted in the area for the last week, transferring the trees to unknown locations.
According to al-Hummus, Israeli authorities put signs in the Karam al-Mufti area last year, declaring that construction works would be conducted on the land “in accordance with articles 5 and 7 of the law,” the construction and planning law regulated 1965 and plan number 4329.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Jerusalem Municipality was not immediately available for comment.
The Israeli municipal authority in Occupied Jerusalem intends to build hundreds of housing units near and in place of the house of Palestinian martyr Fadi al-Qunbar, who carried out the recent vehicle-ramming operation in the city.
According to Israel’s Channel 10 website, the Israeli municipality in the holy city is considering a plan to build 2,500 housing units near the house of Qunbar in Jabel Mukaber neighborhood.
The website pointed out that municipal officials escorted by police forces taped warning notices to the doors of some 1,600 homes in the neighborhood, stating that they were built without permits and that administrative proceedings to demolish them had been instigated.
In this regard, head of the Jabel Mukaber land defense committee Suleiman Matar said that these homes threatened with demolition had been built before 1967, describing the Israeli measure as “reprehensible mass punishment.”
Israel’s security cabinet has already ordered Fadi al-Qunbar’s home to be demolished, after he drove his truck a few days ago into a group of Israeli soldiers in the illegal Israeli settlement of Talpiot that neighbors Jabel al-Mukaber, killing four, and was shot dead at the scene.
Despite their affirmation that they had no prior knowledge of his intention to carry out an attack, al-Qunbar family members will be displaced by Israel's vindictive home demolition policy, which is deemed illegal under international law.
The Jerusalem residency status of al-Qunbar’s mother and 12 other of his relatives will also be revoked as part of mass punitive measures aimed at the family and the residents of Jabel Mukaber.
According to Israel’s Channel 10 website, the Israeli municipality in the holy city is considering a plan to build 2,500 housing units near the house of Qunbar in Jabel Mukaber neighborhood.
The website pointed out that municipal officials escorted by police forces taped warning notices to the doors of some 1,600 homes in the neighborhood, stating that they were built without permits and that administrative proceedings to demolish them had been instigated.
In this regard, head of the Jabel Mukaber land defense committee Suleiman Matar said that these homes threatened with demolition had been built before 1967, describing the Israeli measure as “reprehensible mass punishment.”
Israel’s security cabinet has already ordered Fadi al-Qunbar’s home to be demolished, after he drove his truck a few days ago into a group of Israeli soldiers in the illegal Israeli settlement of Talpiot that neighbors Jabel al-Mukaber, killing four, and was shot dead at the scene.
Despite their affirmation that they had no prior knowledge of his intention to carry out an attack, al-Qunbar family members will be displaced by Israel's vindictive home demolition policy, which is deemed illegal under international law.
The Jerusalem residency status of al-Qunbar’s mother and 12 other of his relatives will also be revoked as part of mass punitive measures aimed at the family and the residents of Jabel Mukaber.
11 jan 2017
U.S. President Barack Obama, in an interview aired on Israeli television on Tuesday, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu policy backing settlements in occupied Palestinian territory is making a future Palestinian state impossible.
"Bibi says that he believes in the two-state solution and yet his actions consistently have shown that if he is getting pressured to approve more settlements he will do so regardless of what he says about the importance of the two-state solution," Obama said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.
Obama pointed out that in the past few years both he and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had "countless times" personally appealed to Netanyahu to stop settlement activity, but that those pleas were ignored.
"Increasingly what you are seeing is that the facts on the ground are making it almost impossible, at least very difficult, and if this trendline continues - impossible, to create a contiguous, functioning Palestinian state," Obama said during the interview.
Obama’s statements came few weeks after Washington did not exercise its veto to stop a U.N. Security Council resolution that demands an end to Israeli settlement building.
"Bibi says that he believes in the two-state solution and yet his actions consistently have shown that if he is getting pressured to approve more settlements he will do so regardless of what he says about the importance of the two-state solution," Obama said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.
Obama pointed out that in the past few years both he and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had "countless times" personally appealed to Netanyahu to stop settlement activity, but that those pleas were ignored.
"Increasingly what you are seeing is that the facts on the ground are making it almost impossible, at least very difficult, and if this trendline continues - impossible, to create a contiguous, functioning Palestinian state," Obama said during the interview.
Obama’s statements came few weeks after Washington did not exercise its veto to stop a U.N. Security Council resolution that demands an end to Israeli settlement building.
10 jan 2017
The Israeli Planning Committee of Occupied Jerusalem is about to approve the construction of 390 illegal settlement units in east Jerusalem, outside the Green Line.
According to Hebrew-speaking sources, the approval of the units has been postponed several times as it coincided with the political speech of US Secretary of State John Kerry and with the UN Security Council vote against the settlement activity in Palestinian lands occupied in 1967.
The committee is to approve 170 settlement units in Ramot Shlomo settlement and 220 units in Ramot outpost, in addition to the construction of a synagogue and a kindergarten.
2016 witnessed a swift upsurge in the number of illegal settlement units in eastern Occupied Jerusalem. The Israeli occupation authorities have been striving to approve 5,600 new settlement units in the area.
According to Hebrew-speaking sources, the approval of the units has been postponed several times as it coincided with the political speech of US Secretary of State John Kerry and with the UN Security Council vote against the settlement activity in Palestinian lands occupied in 1967.
The committee is to approve 170 settlement units in Ramot Shlomo settlement and 220 units in Ramot outpost, in addition to the construction of a synagogue and a kindergarten.
2016 witnessed a swift upsurge in the number of illegal settlement units in eastern Occupied Jerusalem. The Israeli occupation authorities have been striving to approve 5,600 new settlement units in the area.