Netanyahu Grants Smotrich & Ben Gvir Sweeping Powers over the West Bank By: Madeeha Al-A’raj

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj

The national Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report that , the assigned Israeli PM Netanyahu has granted leader of the ‘Religious Zionism Party’, Smotrich, full and free hand powers in the West Bank including building permits in settlements, organizing outposts through land surveying, and work permits for Palestinians, where he will occupy the position of Minister of Finance for a period of 2 years,´-or-the Ministry of the Army, through which the leader of “Religious Zionism” is responsible for the civil administration, which is affiliated with the army occupation in the West Bank.
Ben Gvir’s powers will have serious repercussions on the Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as the Green Line. However, these powers may be explosive in East Jerusalem, starting with Al-Aqsa Mosque, passing through the Israeli Antiquities Authority, which cooperates with settlement associations in the city, leading to the forced expulsion of citizens from their real estate and the suppression of protest movements of Jerusalemites.

On the other hand, the Israeli Supreme Court in occupied Jerusalem approved the allocation of a large part of the lands of the Silwan town for the benefit of the ‘Elad Settlement Association, and authorized it to manage the site which is full of Arab and Islamic antiquities, and to continue excavations and tunnels, at the expense of the lands and homes of Jerusalemites in the town. The court rejected a petition against the manner in which work is being done on the site and settlement plans in Silwan, which affect the lives and rights of Palestinians.
Settlement organizations, including Elad and Ateret Cohanim have invested many efforts to pump public resources and millions of shekels to develop heritage sites that support the Talmudic settlement narrative. According to the decision of the Occupation Court, the settlement association will be responsible for about 15,000 dunums of Jerusalem lands, starting from the Umayyad palaces and then the southern wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Moroccan Gate, passing through the Wadi Hilweh, Al-Bustan, Wadi Al-Rababah and Al-Thawri, to Jabal Al-Mukaber. Neighborhoods

In Hebron, the occupation authorities demolished the ‘Rasul Allah Mosque in Khallet Taha, in Dura, southwest of Hebron, with an area of 100M2. Khallet Taha is considered one of the areas threatened with confiscation, and the occupation seeks to control 3,000 dunums of the citizens lands in it in favor of settlement, especially the ‘Neghot settlement’ near the area.
At the same time, these authorities continue to work on building the Judaizing electric elevator in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, to facilitate settler incursions. It should be noted that in August last year, the occupation authorities began implementing a Judaization project on an area of 300 square meters from the Ibrahimi Mosque and its facilities, including a biblical garden and the installation of an electric elevator, to facilitate settler incursions for which vis 2 million were allocated for financing.
The occupation authorities also began expanding the ‘Karmi Tzur settlement’ built on citizens lands in Halhul, north of Hebron by building 20 new settlement units on land owned by the Zama ra family in Sha b Abu Yusef to expand the aforementioned settlement. It is noteworthy that the occupation authorities seized 400 donums in 2006 in the vicinity of the aforementioned settlement, and exchanged roles with the settlers in stealing more lands and properties of the citizens in favor of settlement expansion.
In Jordan Valley, the occupation forces confiscated several agricultural tractors, and impeded the citizens work in plowing their agricultural lands in the ‘Moufia Plain’, while facilitating settlers to plow large areas of the citizens lands in the plain itself. A group of settlers plowed about 150 dunums owned by the people of Tubas, to the south of the Moufia Plain, with the aim of cultivating it in an attempt to seize it.

List of Israeli over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
• Handing demolition notices for 4 houses in the Abu al-Nawar Bedouin community, east of occupied Jerusalem, under the pretext of building without a permit, and for several houses under construction in the Issawiya town.
• Promoting free transportation campaigns for the settlers who stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the so-called ‘Hanukkah’, which begins on the 18th of Dec. Extremist groups continue to mobilize their settler supporters to carry out massive and central incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Jewish holiday, which lasts for 8 days, amid attempts to light the ‘"Hanukkah candlestick’ inside the mosque.
• A decision to vacate a house in Aqabat al-Khalidiyah in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem by mid-January.
Bethlehem:
• Demolishing 2 agricultural rooms located in the areas of ‘Za nouna’ and ‘Qarneh al-Da mis’ under the pretext of not having a license.
• Bulldozing agricultural lands in the village of Al-Walaja, west of Bethlehem, and demolishing stone chains and retaining walls on an area of 4 dunums.
Ramallah:
• Preventing farmers from working on their lands in the Sinjil town, north of Ramallah.
• Notifications to halt construction in 3 commercial warehouses at the entrance to the Beit Rima town, under the pretext that it is located in Area C.
• Chopping 30 olive trees near the village of al-Mughayyir, north of Ramallah.
• Demolishing 10 tents for 2 families in the Bedouin community in the Wadi Al-Siq area, then confiscating them under the same pretext.
Nablus:
• Attacking a Palestinian citizen in Al-Qusour area, northeast of Burqa town, and smashed his car.
• About 30 beehives and equipment for harvesting olives were stolen from the lands of Deir Sharaf.
• Attacking homes and vehicles of the citizens on the outskirts of the town of Hawara with stones, which resulted in the injury of a number of citizens, and a number of vehicles were damaged as a result of the stones being thrown.
• Attacking Madama Secondary School for Girls, south of Nablus.
Salfeet:
• Uprooting 50 olive saplings in the Bruqin town, west of Salfit, near the ‘Ariel industrial settlement’, and 30 olive saplings in the Qarawat town Bani Hassan. Moreover, handing over 10 notices to stop work and construction near the town.
Jordan Valley:
• Seizing an agricultural tractor and a towed vehicle in the northern Jordan Valley, and delivering a notice to demolish an agricultural house within 96 hours on an area of 22 dunums in the Ras al-Ahmar area, and photographing housing and an agricultural road barns in Atuf.
• Closing soil roads in the al-Ras al-Ahmar community in the eastern region of al-Ras al-Ahmar.

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