US Policy Shift on Settlement Paves the way for Israel to annex more Palestinian Land

By: Madeeha Araj,
The National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements said in his latest weekly report , that the Trump’s Administration’s resolution and actions including the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, transferring its embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied Jerusalem, closing the PLO mission office in Washington, banning the UNRWA’s support, recognizing Israel s sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, and then the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo’s announcing that the Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank is no longer classified as illegal, despite the US’s official stance in 1978, which stressed that settlement in the West Bank contradicts the International Law.

Pompeo s position on settlement construction in Jerusalem and surrounding areas disclosed more Israeli occupation plan in the Qalandia Airport to create a geographical connection between Jerusalem and Ma aleh Adumim settlement in the Khan al-Ahmar area, which extends east to Area E1, and other construction plans in Jerusalem. It was noted that thousands of settlement units will be built on those areas. The plan also includes the construction of 2600 housing units in 12 donums in the Mabsert Adumim area soon. Another plan is to expand the settlement of "Nabi Ya qub" north of Jerusalem by adding 2,000 housing units, and another plan to transform the Qalandia area airport into a neighborhood that includes thousands of housing units.

Worth mentioning that more than 135 US congressmen signed a petition demanding Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to backtrack from viewing the Israeli settlements in the West Bank legal and do not contradict the International Law. Furthermore, the Russian Federation, China, Britain, France and other decision-making capitals rejected the American stance. The UN also said the change in US policy had no impact on the legal status of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and stressed that the settlements violated the International Law. The E-union- s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, has declared that his position in the Israeli settlement activities in the occupied West Bank remains unchanged, and that all settlements are illegal.

Meanwhile, PM Netanyahu agreed to activate the bill on annexing the Jordan Valley to Israel, where Likud MK, Kareen Haskell stressed that "the bill has full support by the prime minister." She asked that the Knesset would vote on it soon. Haskell called on representatives of Blue White, Yisrael Beiteinu and Labor-Gesher to support the Likud s efforts to pass the bill by 80 votes in the Knesset.

Within the context of the policy of displacement and ethnic cleansing practiced by the authorities and the municipality of occupation in Jerusalem, land near the area of the Pope in the town of Ezaria that is the only area that connect the town with the surrounding neighborhoods. The main water line connecting the community was also destroyed. Mount Pope is one of the Bedouin communities in the vicinity of Jerusalem. The occupation seeks to displace its inhabitants in order to establish settlement projects and link the settlement of Ma ale Adumim, and to carry out the "E1 plan", which aims to completely separate the city of Jerusalem from the Palestine State.

In a provocative move to forge the history of Hebron, settlers stuck stone carvings engraved with a candlestick on an archaeological site in the old city of Hebron, claiming that it was a “lighthouse in-script-ion,” and that it was a historical symbol of the Jews in ancient Hebron. Furthermore, scores of settlers stormed the Maskobia Church protected by Israeli occupation forces to practice Talmudic prayers. Worth mentioning that the Church is located in the al-Jalda Neighborhood which is under controlled by the Palestinian National Authority. Settlers also broke into a house belonging to the family of Ghalib Tahboub, and started to create a 20m2 Zinco room.

In the Salfeet Governorate, the Israeli Occupation Authorities renewed their notification to seize hundreds of dunums of citizens land until Dec. 31, 2022 for military purposes. The land is located near the villages of Derastia, Kefl Haris, Burukin, Kfar-aldeek, Der-Belut, Skaka, Masha, Zawiya, Marda and Bidia.

A list of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week, Documented by the National Bureau
Jerusalem: Demolishing 141 houses till today this year, forced a family to demolish its own house in the Jabal Mukaber to avoid the huge cost of demolition in the event of demolition by the occupation bulldozers, under the pretext of not having a license. Another house was demolished under the same pretext.
Ramallah:Demolishing 2 houses in the Shoqba village, northwest of Ramallah.
Invading the Ein-Qinya village, west of Ramallah, bulldozed trees there.
Hebron: Notice of demolition of a 160 m2 house in the Gazio area, filmed other residential rooms in Sosya, east of Yatta..
- Demolishing 2 houses in the al- Aroub Refugee Camp, north of Hebron, under the pretext of not having a license. Moreover, demolished a house belonging to Moh’d Ali Dababsa for the second time after the Israeli court rejected his petition against the demolition order in the al-Dabaa area, south of Hebron.
- Injuring a number of Palestinian civilians in an attack by settlers on Palestinian houses in Wadi Al-Husayn area near the Qiryat Arba settlement in Hebron.
Bethlehem:
- Injuring Ra ed Khalil Salah, 45, from Al-Khader village, south of Bethlehem, while picking olives in his land south of Bethlehem.
Nablus : Attacking Palestinian vehicles near the Zatara checkpoint, confiscated a “digger” belonging to Ali Issa Makhlof in the Asira al-Qibliya village, south of Nablus, after breaking into his workplace near the Itzhar settlement.
- Torching large areas near the Borqa village, near the evacuated Homesh settlement, prevented the citizens to access these lands to control the fire.
- Infiltrating into the villages of Majdal Bani Fadel and Qabalan south of Nablus, and torched a number of vehicles, wrote racist graffiti slogans.
Tulkarm:Injuring a number of Palestinian civilians, of whom Ahmad Abdullah Khalil Ammar, 25, at the gate of the Apartheid Wall west of the Nazlet Eissa village, north of Tulkarm.
Salfit:Infiltrating into the Kafr al-Dik area, near the schools, damaged tires of about 50 vehicles, wrote in Hebrew racist slogans on the vehicles, and the walls of the houses, which read, “closed military zone.”

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