4 apr 2018
An Israeli military unit on Tuesday started clearing a minefield outside the illegal settlement of Karnei Shomron, east of Qalqilya city in the northern occupied West Bank, to pave the way for its expansion, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.
The newspaper quoted chairman of Karnei Shomron local council Yigal Lahav as saying on his Facebook page that the Israeli mine action authority blew up 13 anti-tank landmines that had been hidden underground for some 70 years.
Lahav added that Tuesday’s operation would allow for the construction of at least 1,200 housing units for Jewish settlers.
The detonations were part of a widespread operation to detonate some 2,200 other landmines throughout the West Bank for settlement expansion.
When I became defense minister, I promised to expand settlements. Today we kept our promise,” Israeli war minister Avigdor Lieberman tweeted.
“Soon, instead of the minefield, we will build new housing units in Karnei Shomron,” he added.
Deputy war minister Eli Ben Dahan, for his part, wrote in a Facebook post that the clearing of landmines across the West Bank will allow for one million Jews to live beyond the Green Line.
The newspaper quoted chairman of Karnei Shomron local council Yigal Lahav as saying on his Facebook page that the Israeli mine action authority blew up 13 anti-tank landmines that had been hidden underground for some 70 years.
Lahav added that Tuesday’s operation would allow for the construction of at least 1,200 housing units for Jewish settlers.
The detonations were part of a widespread operation to detonate some 2,200 other landmines throughout the West Bank for settlement expansion.
When I became defense minister, I promised to expand settlements. Today we kept our promise,” Israeli war minister Avigdor Lieberman tweeted.
“Soon, instead of the minefield, we will build new housing units in Karnei Shomron,” he added.
Deputy war minister Eli Ben Dahan, for his part, wrote in a Facebook post that the clearing of landmines across the West Bank will allow for one million Jews to live beyond the Green Line.
3 apr 2018
The Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOF) added on Tuesday morning a new section to the separation wall, further isolating the town of Azzoun, east of Qalqilya city to the north of the West Bank.
Local sources affirmed that a new section has been added to the separation wall that extends seven kilometers around the town and has isolated 2000 dunums of its rich agricultural land.
Israeli army officers have earlier threatened to impose further sanctions on Azzoun in light of the growing anti-occupation activities in the village.
The separation wall has been built since 2002 at the expense of the town lands, surrounding it from all sides and totally isolating it from nearby towns and villages.
Local sources affirmed that a new section has been added to the separation wall that extends seven kilometers around the town and has isolated 2000 dunums of its rich agricultural land.
Israeli army officers have earlier threatened to impose further sanctions on Azzoun in light of the growing anti-occupation activities in the village.
The separation wall has been built since 2002 at the expense of the town lands, surrounding it from all sides and totally isolating it from nearby towns and villages.
The Israeli Planning and Building Commission in occupied Jerusalem has approved on Tuesday an overall outline plan for Tzur Hadassah settlement.
The plan includes the construction of 5,700 housing units designed to accommodate 20,000 settlers.
The settlement currently has 4,000 housing units and a population of 9,000.
There are also 1,450 housing units yet to be built on the northern side of Highway 375.
The plan includes the construction of 5,700 housing units designed to accommodate 20,000 settlers.
The settlement currently has 4,000 housing units and a population of 9,000.
There are also 1,450 housing units yet to be built on the northern side of Highway 375.
2 apr 2018
Hebrew sources on Monday revealed that 1045 settlement units are being built in several Israeli settlements in Jerusalem.
Kol Ha'ir newspaper said that the Israeli construction company Sarfati Shimon began last week the execution of a new project in Pisgat Ze'ev settlement consisting of 92 housing units in four buildings.
The company's deputy general manager, during the ceremony of laying the foundation stone for the project, said that this is only the first stage of the project which is intended to include 300 housing units built near the northern exit of the settlement close to the light rail.
Another project involving the construction of 221 housing units is being implemented by Azorim company in Moshe Illit settlement. The project will cover an area of 55 dunums including a 16-dunum park and it is expected to cost 7 million shekels.
Meanwhile, Dona engineering and construction company announced that it managed to sell 64% of the 113 housing units which are under construction in Gilo settlement, while Jerusalem's Planning and Building Committee said that it had approved the construction of 3,000 new settlement units in Gilo settlement alone.
For its part, Euro-Israel company has launched four settlement projects in Jerusalem: the first and the second are in Pisgat Ze'ev settlement and involve the construction of 24 and 122 housing units, the third is in Har Homa and includes 122 units, and the fourth is in Neve Yaakov settlement with a plan to build 78 new housing units.
Kol Ha'ir newspaper said that the Israeli construction company Sarfati Shimon began last week the execution of a new project in Pisgat Ze'ev settlement consisting of 92 housing units in four buildings.
The company's deputy general manager, during the ceremony of laying the foundation stone for the project, said that this is only the first stage of the project which is intended to include 300 housing units built near the northern exit of the settlement close to the light rail.
Another project involving the construction of 221 housing units is being implemented by Azorim company in Moshe Illit settlement. The project will cover an area of 55 dunums including a 16-dunum park and it is expected to cost 7 million shekels.
Meanwhile, Dona engineering and construction company announced that it managed to sell 64% of the 113 housing units which are under construction in Gilo settlement, while Jerusalem's Planning and Building Committee said that it had approved the construction of 3,000 new settlement units in Gilo settlement alone.
For its part, Euro-Israel company has launched four settlement projects in Jerusalem: the first and the second are in Pisgat Ze'ev settlement and involve the construction of 24 and 122 housing units, the third is in Har Homa and includes 122 units, and the fourth is in Neve Yaakov settlement with a plan to build 78 new housing units.
1 apr 2018
A Palestinian report has revealed that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) started to carry out a major railway project aimed at linking its illegal settlements in the West Bank with the 1948 occupied territory (Israel).
According to a report released recently by the National Bureau for Defending Land, the railway project will first link all West Bank settlements with each other and then link them all with cities in Israel. The project is expected to be completed in 2025.
The IOA already seized about 2,000 dunums of Palestinian land for the project, especially in the West Bank villages of Zawiya, Mas-ha, Biddya, Sarta, Kafr ad-Dik and Bruqin.
The project, which includes 11 railway lines and 30 passenger stations, will lead to the destruction of vast tracts of agricultural land and water resources in the annexed Palestinian areas.
According to a report released recently by the National Bureau for Defending Land, the railway project will first link all West Bank settlements with each other and then link them all with cities in Israel. The project is expected to be completed in 2025.
The IOA already seized about 2,000 dunums of Palestinian land for the project, especially in the West Bank villages of Zawiya, Mas-ha, Biddya, Sarta, Kafr ad-Dik and Bruqin.
The project, which includes 11 railway lines and 30 passenger stations, will lead to the destruction of vast tracts of agricultural land and water resources in the annexed Palestinian areas.
29 mar 2018
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) called for tenders for the construction of 296 new housing units on Palestinian lands to the northeast of Ramallah in the West Bank.
Israeli TV Channel Seven said on Thursday that the housing ministry called for tenders for the building of around 300 housing unit in Beit El settlement.
The Channel quoted chairman of Beit El’s local council Shay Alon as describing the news as “historic”, adding that within the next few months the council will start developing the settlement and build new houses.
Israeli TV Channel Seven said on Thursday that the housing ministry called for tenders for the building of around 300 housing unit in Beit El settlement.
The Channel quoted chairman of Beit El’s local council Shay Alon as describing the news as “historic”, adding that within the next few months the council will start developing the settlement and build new houses.
27 mar 2018
A little over a year after the illegal Amona outpost was evacuated by the Israeli government, 25 Israeli settler families from Amona moved into their new homes in the illegal Amichai settlement — the first official Israeli-government sanctioned settlement to be built in the occupied West Bank in 25 years.
Israeli media reported that the settlers would inaugurate their homes in an official ceremony, on Monday.
The Amona outpost — which, like other settlement outposts, are illegal both under international and Israeli law — was slated for demolition following a 2008 Israeli Supreme Court decision, after eight Palestinians from neighboring villages successfully petitioned to remove the outpost on grounds that the construction was carried out on privately owned Palestinian land.
After years of appeals from right-wing Israeli government officials, and attempts by Amona settlers to prove they had legally purchased the land, an Israeli police investigation in May 2014 found the entirety of the outpost to have been built on private Palestinian lands, and that the documents used by Amona residents to try claim their “purchases” were in fact forged.
According to Ma’an News Agency, in February 2017, Israeli authorities evacuated the Amona settlers, who aggressively resisted their evacuation, resulting in the injury of dozens of Israeli soldiers who did little to suppress the violence.
Israeli news website Ynet reported that 15 other settler families will move into the Amichai settlement after the upcoming Passover holiday, adding that the settlement is set to be home to 1,100 families in the future.
“Amichai has been in full swing with connections created to power, sewage and water systems, at an estimated cost of tens of millions of shekels,” Ynet reported.
While the Amichai settlement, which was built in violation of international law in occupied Palestinian territory, has access to electricity and running water, dozens of Palestinian communities across the West Bank live in Area C — under full Israeli security and civilian control — and are prevented from accessing water and electric infrastructures.
Meanwhile, plans for Shvut Rachel East — another illegal Israeli settlement to be established between the existing Shvut Rachel settlement and what is to be Amichai — were advanced in February, also under the pretext of compensating residents of the Amona outpost, despite Amona’s evacuees refusing the relocation plan.
Shvut Rachel East has been referred to as a “neighborhood of Shilo settlement,” by Israeli authorities and not considered an entirely new settlement, despite its considerable distance from the built up area of Shilo.
Israeli media reported that the settlers would inaugurate their homes in an official ceremony, on Monday.
The Amona outpost — which, like other settlement outposts, are illegal both under international and Israeli law — was slated for demolition following a 2008 Israeli Supreme Court decision, after eight Palestinians from neighboring villages successfully petitioned to remove the outpost on grounds that the construction was carried out on privately owned Palestinian land.
After years of appeals from right-wing Israeli government officials, and attempts by Amona settlers to prove they had legally purchased the land, an Israeli police investigation in May 2014 found the entirety of the outpost to have been built on private Palestinian lands, and that the documents used by Amona residents to try claim their “purchases” were in fact forged.
According to Ma’an News Agency, in February 2017, Israeli authorities evacuated the Amona settlers, who aggressively resisted their evacuation, resulting in the injury of dozens of Israeli soldiers who did little to suppress the violence.
Israeli news website Ynet reported that 15 other settler families will move into the Amichai settlement after the upcoming Passover holiday, adding that the settlement is set to be home to 1,100 families in the future.
“Amichai has been in full swing with connections created to power, sewage and water systems, at an estimated cost of tens of millions of shekels,” Ynet reported.
While the Amichai settlement, which was built in violation of international law in occupied Palestinian territory, has access to electricity and running water, dozens of Palestinian communities across the West Bank live in Area C — under full Israeli security and civilian control — and are prevented from accessing water and electric infrastructures.
Meanwhile, plans for Shvut Rachel East — another illegal Israeli settlement to be established between the existing Shvut Rachel settlement and what is to be Amichai — were advanced in February, also under the pretext of compensating residents of the Amona outpost, despite Amona’s evacuees refusing the relocation plan.
Shvut Rachel East has been referred to as a “neighborhood of Shilo settlement,” by Israeli authorities and not considered an entirely new settlement, despite its considerable distance from the built up area of Shilo.
“Under the disguise of ‘compensation’ to the Amona settlers, two new settlements, located one next to the other, are now in the making,” Israeli NGO Peace Now said of Amichai and Shvut Rachel East last month.
Noting the strategic location of the two new settlements between Shilo and Shvut Rachel to the west and a cluster of several illegal outposts to their east, Peace Now wrote that Amichai and Shvut Rachel East “are located in a region that serves as focal point of settler land takeover and settler violence, preventing Palestinians from reaching their lands.”
Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem has also argued that settlers acted as “envoys” of the Israeli government in pushing land grabs in the occupied Palestinian territory, allowing the government to officially detach themselves from the settlers’ violent and illegal actions, while avoiding or blocking any legal penalties that could be imposed on the settlers, except in the most extreme of cases.
Noting the strategic location of the two new settlements between Shilo and Shvut Rachel to the west and a cluster of several illegal outposts to their east, Peace Now wrote that Amichai and Shvut Rachel East “are located in a region that serves as focal point of settler land takeover and settler violence, preventing Palestinians from reaching their lands.”
Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem has also argued that settlers acted as “envoys” of the Israeli government in pushing land grabs in the occupied Palestinian territory, allowing the government to officially detach themselves from the settlers’ violent and illegal actions, while avoiding or blocking any legal penalties that could be imposed on the settlers, except in the most extreme of cases.
