By: Madeeha Araj,
The National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements said in his weekly report that Settler’s Crimes throughout the West Bank continue, the most recent of which is the heinous crime that resulted in the killing of Hamdi Na’san, wounding 30 others after right-wing settlers stormed the Mughier village east of Ramallah, and attacking citizen Moqbil Faris and his son near the village of Derrastia. Such crimes are part of the open war waged by the Israeli government and its various military and security arms against the Palestinians, as they escalate their terror under the protection and support provided it to them. Furthermore, a statement issued by the Israeli occupation army in the village of Mughier, east of Ramallah, stated that the incident was just a “quarrel” between some settlers and residents of the village.
Knowing that settler crimes in the occupied West Bank have recently begun to take on an organized nature. They continue to be secured by the Israeli occupation forces, and supported from religious authorities such as Rabbi Eliyahu’s final advisory opinion. In this context, a group of senior rabbis from religious Zionism circulated a letter asking the Israeli public to donate to the Jewish terrorist accused of killing the martyr, Aisha Rabi, 47, after an indictment of unintentional killing was filed against him in the Lod’s Central Court, “.
In an attempt to deface the facts and increase the crimes of the occupation and settlers, the Prime Minister of the occupation, Netanyahu has ended the works of the mission of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron, and this decision is seriously leads to increase the crimes of the occupation and a settler. In his statement, he said that he “will not allow the existence of an international force working against his state.”.
Accordingly, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory warned of the serious consequences of Israel’s policy and called on the international community to take decisive action in response to Israel’s recent intensification of settlement activities in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, adding this would vehemently harm the two-state solution. The UN expert noted that last year witnessed a marked increase of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.
At the same time, a number of settlement projects, aimed at deepening Israeli control over the occupied Old City and strengthening the Elad Association, which is working to Judaize Silwan, have been approved. The National Infrastructure Development Committee in Jerusalem has approved the plan to build a light airlift cable car, which will link the Mount of Olives and the Buraq Wall with a length of 1.4 km and cost $ 200 million, encouraged by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism. By completion of the project, about 3,000 settlers can reach the Western Wall every hour. Knowing that 15 columns of 26-meter-long train track were built. The project is one of the most prominent projects of Judaization around the Al-Aqsa Mosque and in occupied Jerusalem, especially Silwan area being targeted of further demolition and displacement.
In addition to the Judaization projects in the occupied city of Jerusalem as the early election campaign for the Knesset is drawing near, the Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu pledges to stay in the occupied West Bank settlements “forever” while visiting the Gush Etzion settlement bloc. Netanyahu claimed during his visit that “the Jewish people did not return to its land after two thousand years to get rid of their land, but promise not to evacuate future settlements.” At the same time, he opened a settlement on the land of citizens in the town of Khader south of Bethlehem in the area of “Khallet al-Fahm” in Block 91, an area of 20 dunums located next to the previously evacuated settlement outpost “Hatfot.” In the context of election campaign ahead of the primaries of the Likud party, in the eve of the upcoming Knesset election of next April, extremist Minister of Culture and Sport, Miri Regev stormed the old town of occupied Jerusalem, took a provocative tour of the city, guarded by tight security.
In the middle of June, two civilian helicopters landed on a hill near Seneri village, Salfit, on which, Ya’ob Galant, the Israeli Minister of Housing and Construction, and MK, Yaakov Asher, where they met with Yossi Dagot, head of the settlement council in the West Bank and others, demanding the establishment of a settlement town for the Haredi sector in the name of “Dorot Illit.” With them was Asher, who said that will turn into reality, especially since this project is close to Gush Dan and the residential areas of the Haredim. He said, the project was there since 5 years, and the construction will start after 3 years, where 200 dunums of land in the area were confiscated to build 2,000 housing units, while contacts are being made to buy another 600 dunums. The settlement project would cut off communication between Qalqiliya and Salfit Governorate. The settlement will be built at the expense of the Palestinian land, especially the land between Kafr Qasim and Azzun Atma, Beit Amin, Masha, Bedia and Zawiya towns. Knowing that the area of this land is 4,000 dunums.
For its part, the Amnesty International has accused Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia and Trip Advisor, giant online booking and accommodation companies of violating human rights of the Palestinians by including hundreds of rooms and activities within Israeli settlements based on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. The Israeli government has strongly criticized Amnesty International and considered the organization hypocritical. The Israeli government also announced the cancellation of the tax exemption granted to the organization years ago, at the request of the Minister of Internal Security, Gilad Aradan, claiming that the organization promotes anti-Semitic boycott activities.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
