6 may 2020
David Friedman
The cabinet announced a plan for thousands of new settlement homes in the West Bank on Wednesday as Washington voiced readiness to back de facto Israeli annexations there.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention to bring the question of extending Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and the Jordan Vally to the cabinet on July 1 as agreed to in his coalition deal with Benny Gantz.
Fresh construction for the settlement of Efrat was approved on land that could accommodate "around 7,000 housing units", Defence Minister Naftali Bennett's office said in a statement.
"The building momentum in the country must not be stopped, even for a second," tweeted Bennett.
The United States has offered to recognize Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank as part of a proposed peace plan unveiled in February, which includes the call for negotiations on a Palestinian state in up to 70% of the territory.
"Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and the Valley is an Israeli decision. We are ready," U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman was quoted as saying.
Friedman reiterated a call for Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking in a separate comment.
"The expectation is that the prime minister will agree to negotiate and, if the Palestinians show up, he will negotiate in good faith based on this (Trump) plan," said Friedman.
The Palestinians say the plan is biased against them, and have boycotted Washington's mediation efforts since it recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in late 2017.
"The Trump Administration's Annexation plan endorses everything that the illegal Israeli colonial-settlement enterprise is about: A racist narrative, violations of international law and the perpetuation of the denial of Palestinian rights," Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said.
The cabinet announced a plan for thousands of new settlement homes in the West Bank on Wednesday as Washington voiced readiness to back de facto Israeli annexations there.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention to bring the question of extending Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and the Jordan Vally to the cabinet on July 1 as agreed to in his coalition deal with Benny Gantz.
Fresh construction for the settlement of Efrat was approved on land that could accommodate "around 7,000 housing units", Defence Minister Naftali Bennett's office said in a statement.
"The building momentum in the country must not be stopped, even for a second," tweeted Bennett.
The United States has offered to recognize Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank as part of a proposed peace plan unveiled in February, which includes the call for negotiations on a Palestinian state in up to 70% of the territory.
"Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and the Valley is an Israeli decision. We are ready," U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman was quoted as saying.
Friedman reiterated a call for Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking in a separate comment.
"The expectation is that the prime minister will agree to negotiate and, if the Palestinians show up, he will negotiate in good faith based on this (Trump) plan," said Friedman.
The Palestinians say the plan is biased against them, and have boycotted Washington's mediation efforts since it recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in late 2017.
"The Trump Administration's Annexation plan endorses everything that the illegal Israeli colonial-settlement enterprise is about: A racist narrative, violations of international law and the perpetuation of the denial of Palestinian rights," Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said.
A group of illegal Israeli colonialist settlers, squatting on Palestinian lands in direct violation of International Law, bulldozed a large area of Palestinian lands near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Tuesday, to prepare for a new segregated road.
Eyewitnesses said the colonists, accompanied by a large number of Israeli soldiers invaded and uprooted the Palestinian lands in Doura town, south of Hebron.
They added that the colonists drove large machines, including bulldozers and started uprooting the lands, owned by members of Sweity and Jadallah Palestinian families.
The colonists are apparently preparing for a new road to link with their illegal colony, Negohot, which was built on private Palestinian lands.
All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and all related international treaties.
Article 49 of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention states that “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”
In its additional Protocol, Article 85(4) of 1977 states that ““the transfer by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” is a grave breach of the Protocol.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute of 1988, Article 8(2)(b)(viii) states that “the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies constitutes a war crime in international armed conflicts.”
Eyewitnesses said the colonists, accompanied by a large number of Israeli soldiers invaded and uprooted the Palestinian lands in Doura town, south of Hebron.
They added that the colonists drove large machines, including bulldozers and started uprooting the lands, owned by members of Sweity and Jadallah Palestinian families.
The colonists are apparently preparing for a new road to link with their illegal colony, Negohot, which was built on private Palestinian lands.
All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and all related international treaties.
Article 49 of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention states that “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”
In its additional Protocol, Article 85(4) of 1977 states that ““the transfer by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” is a grave breach of the Protocol.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute of 1988, Article 8(2)(b)(viii) states that “the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies constitutes a war crime in international armed conflicts.”
4 may 2020
Israeli war minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday announced that he gave the final approval to the plan to seize Palestinian land and property in the Old City of al-Khalil to build a path and an elevator to facilitate the entry of Jewish settlers to the Ibrahimi Mosque.
According to the Hebrew media, Bennett gave the civil administration’s higher planning council, an affiliate of the Israeli occupation army, the green light to complete all procedures needed to confiscate private Palestinian property near the Ibrahimi Mosque for the project.
The war minister stressed the need to start carrying the project immediately and without delay after the plan received approval from the judicial authorities, Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and foreign minister Israel Katz.
According to the Hebrew media, Bennett gave the civil administration’s higher planning council, an affiliate of the Israeli occupation army, the green light to complete all procedures needed to confiscate private Palestinian property near the Ibrahimi Mosque for the project.
The war minister stressed the need to start carrying the project immediately and without delay after the plan received approval from the judicial authorities, Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and foreign minister Israel Katz.
2 may 2020
Israeli authorities reportedly endorsed the erection of a new Israeli colonial settlement near the Kufur Qasem town, north of the West Bank.
According to Ma’areef Israeli Hebrew-language newspaper, the 10 acres of Palestinian farm land, on which the colonial settlement is set to be erected, will be rather designated as a cemetery for the Israeli colonial settlement of Sha’er Hamsharoun, accommodating around 30,000 tomb stones.
Yusi Daghan, Head of Israeli colonial settlements council, known as Shomroun, was quoted as saying “erection of the cemetery is a clear sign that we are going to remain in our places, forever.
I would like to say that we are ready to welcome around 1,000,000 Jews and then accommodate them, in the northern West Bank. For this end, we are currently establishing the needed points of infrastructure, including transportations”.
Daghan also stated that a new industrial zone for settlers, is planned to be erected in the West Bank region.
Noteworthy, Israel occupied the Palestinian West Bank in 1967, and since then, Israel has embarked on illegal settlement construction, with hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers, currently living on Palestinian-owned lands.
Israeli settlement activities are deemed illegal under international law, United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution 242 of 1967, demanded that Israel withdraw immediately from the lands it occupied by force on June 4, 1967.
Recently, Israeli leaders have hinted at the possibility that Israel would annex the entire Palestinian West Bank region to Israel. A move that has been met with stark Palestinian, Arab and European rejection.
According to Ma’areef Israeli Hebrew-language newspaper, the 10 acres of Palestinian farm land, on which the colonial settlement is set to be erected, will be rather designated as a cemetery for the Israeli colonial settlement of Sha’er Hamsharoun, accommodating around 30,000 tomb stones.
Yusi Daghan, Head of Israeli colonial settlements council, known as Shomroun, was quoted as saying “erection of the cemetery is a clear sign that we are going to remain in our places, forever.
I would like to say that we are ready to welcome around 1,000,000 Jews and then accommodate them, in the northern West Bank. For this end, we are currently establishing the needed points of infrastructure, including transportations”.
Daghan also stated that a new industrial zone for settlers, is planned to be erected in the West Bank region.
Noteworthy, Israel occupied the Palestinian West Bank in 1967, and since then, Israel has embarked on illegal settlement construction, with hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers, currently living on Palestinian-owned lands.
Israeli settlement activities are deemed illegal under international law, United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution 242 of 1967, demanded that Israel withdraw immediately from the lands it occupied by force on June 4, 1967.
Recently, Israeli leaders have hinted at the possibility that Israel would annex the entire Palestinian West Bank region to Israel. A move that has been met with stark Palestinian, Arab and European rejection.
29 apr 2020
The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) on Wednesday morning bulldozed vast tracts of Palestinian land in Burin town, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) on Wednesday morning bulldozed vast tracts of Palestinian land in Burin town, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
Several bulldozers started to level three dunums of land in al-Mayadeen area of Burin town near the illegal settlement of Yitzhar, according to Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian official in charge of the Israeli settlement file in the West Bank.
Daghlas said that the bulldozing activities in the area are aimed at expanding the settlement of Yitzhar.
Several bulldozers started to level three dunums of land in al-Mayadeen area of Burin town near the illegal settlement of Yitzhar, according to Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian official in charge of the Israeli settlement file in the West Bank.
Daghlas said that the bulldozing activities in the area are aimed at expanding the settlement of Yitzhar.
The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) on Wednesday morning bulldozed vast tracts of Palestinian land in Burin town, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
Several bulldozers started to level three dunums of land in al-Mayadeen area of Burin town near the illegal settlement of Yitzhar, according to Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian official in charge of the Israeli settlement file in the West Bank.
Daghlas said that the bulldozing activities in the area are aimed at expanding the settlement of Yitzhar.
Several bulldozers started to level three dunums of land in al-Mayadeen area of Burin town near the illegal settlement of Yitzhar, according to Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian official in charge of the Israeli settlement file in the West Bank.
Daghlas said that the bulldozing activities in the area are aimed at expanding the settlement of Yitzhar.
26 apr 2020
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he is "confident" Israel will apply its sovereignty over Jewish settlements in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley in "a few months from now."
“For decades I have been fighting those who sought to deny the millennial connection of the Jewish people to our homeland. I’m proud to say that the decades-long struggle has borne fruit. Three months ago, the Trump peace plan recognized Israel’s rights in all of Judea and Samaria [the West Bank].
And President Trump pledged to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Jewish communities there and in the Jordan Valley,” Netanyahu was quoted by the Times of Israel as saying in a recorded speech broadcast on a Christian Evangelical event marking the 100th anniversary of the San Remo conference.
“A couple of months from now, I’m confident that that pledge will be honored. That we will be able to celebrate another historic moment in the history of Zionism. A century after San Remo, the promise of Zionism is being realized,” Netanyahu said.
The San Remo conference was an international meeting of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council held in April 1920. In the San Remo Resolution, the superpowers recognize the right of the Jewish people to renew their national home in Israel following the Balfour Declaration of 1927.
The resolution was adopted by the United Nations upon its establishment in 1945 and is still valid according to international law.
According to the government deal between the Likud and Blue & White, Netanyahu will be able to bring the agreement reached with the Trump administration over the application of Israeli sovereignty in West Bank and Jordan Valley territories for the approval of the Security Cabinet and Knesset fro July 1.
In addition, “the law will be passed as quickly as possible… and will not be disrupted or delayed by the chairmen of either the House or the Foreign Affairs and Defense committees.”
Gantz managed to add a clause into the deal stating that the prime minister and the deputy prime minister must act in concert with the United States, including on the issue of drawing new roadmaps, and while consulting the international opinion on the issue.
All this while striving to safeguard the security and strategic interests of the State of Israel, including the need to maintain regional stability, preserve peace agreements, and strive for future peace agreements.
With this clause, Gantz wished to ensure that Netanyahu will not be able to take any far-reaching steps that may put a strain on Israel's relations with Jordan, potentially leading to a full diplomatic crisis and the abolition of the peace agreement between the two countries.
Netanyahu's efforts to apply sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and settlements in the West Bank even before the elections failed because of the White House's opposition to annexation before a joint committee would come to an agreement on the roadmaps to ensure Israel would not appropriate any of the future Palestinian state's territories.
The joint committee has already begun mapping work but was forced to stop due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“For decades I have been fighting those who sought to deny the millennial connection of the Jewish people to our homeland. I’m proud to say that the decades-long struggle has borne fruit. Three months ago, the Trump peace plan recognized Israel’s rights in all of Judea and Samaria [the West Bank].
And President Trump pledged to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Jewish communities there and in the Jordan Valley,” Netanyahu was quoted by the Times of Israel as saying in a recorded speech broadcast on a Christian Evangelical event marking the 100th anniversary of the San Remo conference.
“A couple of months from now, I’m confident that that pledge will be honored. That we will be able to celebrate another historic moment in the history of Zionism. A century after San Remo, the promise of Zionism is being realized,” Netanyahu said.
The San Remo conference was an international meeting of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council held in April 1920. In the San Remo Resolution, the superpowers recognize the right of the Jewish people to renew their national home in Israel following the Balfour Declaration of 1927.
The resolution was adopted by the United Nations upon its establishment in 1945 and is still valid according to international law.
According to the government deal between the Likud and Blue & White, Netanyahu will be able to bring the agreement reached with the Trump administration over the application of Israeli sovereignty in West Bank and Jordan Valley territories for the approval of the Security Cabinet and Knesset fro July 1.
In addition, “the law will be passed as quickly as possible… and will not be disrupted or delayed by the chairmen of either the House or the Foreign Affairs and Defense committees.”
Gantz managed to add a clause into the deal stating that the prime minister and the deputy prime minister must act in concert with the United States, including on the issue of drawing new roadmaps, and while consulting the international opinion on the issue.
All this while striving to safeguard the security and strategic interests of the State of Israel, including the need to maintain regional stability, preserve peace agreements, and strive for future peace agreements.
With this clause, Gantz wished to ensure that Netanyahu will not be able to take any far-reaching steps that may put a strain on Israel's relations with Jordan, potentially leading to a full diplomatic crisis and the abolition of the peace agreement between the two countries.
Netanyahu's efforts to apply sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and settlements in the West Bank even before the elections failed because of the White House's opposition to annexation before a joint committee would come to an agreement on the roadmaps to ensure Israel would not appropriate any of the future Palestinian state's territories.
The joint committee has already begun mapping work but was forced to stop due to the coronavirus outbreak.
22 apr 2020
Israeli attorney general Avichai Mandelblit has approved a measure to seize a tract of land belonging to the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil city at the pretext of expanding and developing the holy site.
Last year, when Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu desecrated the Ibrahimi Mosque, he expressed his approval to confiscate the Islamic holy site’s lands — over which the Islamic Awqaf Authority has jurisdiction — in order to build paths and projects for Jews in the area.
Following Mandelblit’s approval, Likud’s Knesset member Keti Shitrit sent a letter to security minister Gilad Erdan asking him to sign the decree that okays the confiscation of a swath of land near the Ibrahimi Mosque in order to build a path for Jews to the holy site.
For its part, the Palestinian ministry of Awqaf and religious affairs has condemned the Israeli decision to seize a piece of land belonging to the Mosque, describing it as flagrant aggression against the Muslims’ exclusive ownership of the holy site and its real estate in al-Khalil.
Deputy Awqaf minister Husam Abul-Rab called on UNESCO to necessary intervene to stop the Israeli government’s violations against the Islamic holy sites in the occupied territories, affirming that the Awqaf ministry would not stand idly by watching such Israeli practices and would firmly move to curb them.
Last year, when Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu desecrated the Ibrahimi Mosque, he expressed his approval to confiscate the Islamic holy site’s lands — over which the Islamic Awqaf Authority has jurisdiction — in order to build paths and projects for Jews in the area.
Following Mandelblit’s approval, Likud’s Knesset member Keti Shitrit sent a letter to security minister Gilad Erdan asking him to sign the decree that okays the confiscation of a swath of land near the Ibrahimi Mosque in order to build a path for Jews to the holy site.
For its part, the Palestinian ministry of Awqaf and religious affairs has condemned the Israeli decision to seize a piece of land belonging to the Mosque, describing it as flagrant aggression against the Muslims’ exclusive ownership of the holy site and its real estate in al-Khalil.
Deputy Awqaf minister Husam Abul-Rab called on UNESCO to necessary intervene to stop the Israeli government’s violations against the Islamic holy sites in the occupied territories, affirming that the Awqaf ministry would not stand idly by watching such Israeli practices and would firmly move to curb them.
20 apr 2020
Israeli settlers today planted trees in a Palestinian-owned land in an area south of the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem in a prelude to taking it over, according to a local official.
Hasan Breijieh, director of the Bethlehem office of the Wall and Settlements Resistance Commission, told WAFA that settlers planted olive trees in a land owned by Zeinab Abu Sneineh in an area near the village of Irtas. This step is usually a prelude to seizing the land.
He said the Israeli army had previously seized land in the same area and considered it state-owned.
Meanwhile, Israeli army bulldozers razed land south of Bethlehem located between the illegal settlements of Migdal Oz and Ifrat, said Breijieh.
He said the 2-dunum plot is located near the entrance to Migdal Oz and is owned by a local Palestinian family that has the official ownership land deeds.
Hasan Breijieh, director of the Bethlehem office of the Wall and Settlements Resistance Commission, told WAFA that settlers planted olive trees in a land owned by Zeinab Abu Sneineh in an area near the village of Irtas. This step is usually a prelude to seizing the land.
He said the Israeli army had previously seized land in the same area and considered it state-owned.
Meanwhile, Israeli army bulldozers razed land south of Bethlehem located between the illegal settlements of Migdal Oz and Ifrat, said Breijieh.
He said the 2-dunum plot is located near the entrance to Migdal Oz and is owned by a local Palestinian family that has the official ownership land deeds.
