Israel defies International Community, moves ahead with dangerous settlement plan implementation in ‘E1 area’

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The ‘National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that in its July 14 issue, the Haaretz newspaper revealed that the occupation authorities have decided, after a freeze that lasted for years, to move ahead with implementing the settlement plan in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, and that the relevant committee will consider objections from Palestinians and human rights organizations during a session to be held on August 6. This came after a number of Palestinians in the area, along with the Peace Now Movement, Ir Amim, and the Association for Environmental Justice, filed official objections to the plan, stating that the project s implementation would harm the only remaining area of land located in the middle of the Palestinian urban complex between Ramallah, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem, that has about 1,000,000 Palestinians.
The objections stage is considered final in a series of steps before the publication of construction tenders. It should be noted that the subcommittee responsible for objections held 2 sessions to hear objections, but the third, final session was postponed twice due to external pressure.
The plan aims to build thousands of settlement units to connect the Ma ale Adumim settlement with Jerusalem, isolate the city from its surroundings, and divide the West Bank into two parts, eliminating the ‘two-state solution’ option and preventing the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. For more than two decades, the United States and European countries have exerted pressure on the Israeli side to refrain from implementing the plan, which severs the geographical contiguity between the Palestinian territories and divides the occupied West Bank.
On May 6, Israeli FM and Minister of Settlement Affairs in the Army Ministry, Smotrich announced that the government would approve construction plans in the E1 area in the coming months. Adding during his participation in the ‘settlement conference’ organized at the time by the right-wing settler newspaper Makor Rishon in the Ofra settlement, ‘We have been talking about this for years, and we will approve the plans. We are working on it professionally. This is how we are effectively killing the Palestinian state.’
He continued, ‘There will be sovereignty in this state,’ referring to the formal annexation of the occupied West Bank to Israel. He added that the government has approved the construction of 15,000 settlement units since the beginning of the year, and is investing seven billion shekels in paving roads in the West Bank, and that these projects will lead to a significant increase in the number of settlers. The occupation authorities paved the way for this dangerous step when the Israeli political-security cabinet approved last March the construction of a separate road for Palestinians south of E1, linking the northern and southern parts of the West Bank, in preparation for the commencement of settlement construction.
Accordingly, this road will divert Palestinian traffic away from Road No. 1, which connects Jerusalem and Ma ale Adumim, so that the section will be used mainly by Israelis. The new road will connect the Palestinian villages in the northern West Bank with those located in the south, while diverting Palestinian vehicle traffic away from the Road allowing it to be used almost exclusively by settlers and Jews between Jerusalem and Ma ale Adumim. Meanwhile, the Supreme Planning Council is scheduled to discuss construction projects in several settlements these days, including the construction of 567 housing units in two settlements namely, Beitar Illit 372 units and Givat Ze ev, 195 units. The council will also hold a second discussion on a plan to build 464 housing units in the Talmon settlement.
The council approved the Beitar Illit plan for deposit on January 15 of this year, and it is now subject to final approval within six months of the deposit date. The Talmon construction plan relates to the so-called "Harsha neighborhood," which is in fact an outpost retroactively authorized as a neighborhood of Talmon, although it operates as an independent settlement. The plan was first discussed for deposit on April 23 of this year, and a second session is scheduled for today.
On July 7, the occupation authorities announced, by military order, their seizure of 744 dunams of land in the villages of al-Mughayyir and Jaba it, northeast of Ramallah, for the ‘Malachi Hashalom settlement outpost’, which was established in 2015 on village lands. The outpost was legalized and transformed into a settlement. This outpost represents a new extension of several outposts in the area, and is the same outpost whose legal status was announced by the occupation authorities 2 years ago after the formation of the far-right fascist government.
Noting that in 2001, settler groups seized dozens of dunams of land in the al-Mughayyir village, and established this settlement outpost, which began with dozens of homes and mobile caravans on an area estimated at 130 dunams. This latest military order aims to impose facts on the ground in favor of the Malachi Hashalom outpost. The designated lands include the lands occupied by the aforementioned outpost and additional areas, linking them to the Israeli bypass road No. 458 and the Israeli settlement bloc north of the village of Al-Mughayyir, which includes the settlement outposts of Adei Ad, Amihai, Kida, and Ahyaa.
As usual, the occupation authorities have seized last week an area of 5 dunams and 163 square meters of land from the towns of Sa ir and Ash-Shuyukh in the Hebron Governorate. The seizure came through a seizure order for military and security purposes. The alleged military order, numbered (T/105/25), aims to seize the aforementioned area in order to pave a settlement road connecting the settlements of Asfar and Bnei Kedem, which are built on the lands of the towns of Ash-Shuyukh and Sa ir. The military order indicates that the occupying state has allocated areas originally declared as state land in the area for military use, while the real purpose was to pave the aforementioned settlement road.
On the other hand, the criminal attacks of settlers, who use settlements, outposts and so-called pastoral farms as safe havens under the protection of the occupation army have escalated. The settler attacks have gone beyond burning Palestinian crops and trees, stealing their crops, destroying their water wells, preventing them from using their springs, storming their homes in their towns and villages, blocking their roads and throwing stones at their vehicles. They have entered a new phase of organized terrorism using weapons and easy trigger-happy behavior.
The number of martyrs killed by settler bullets since Oct. 7 has reached about 30 martyrs, especially after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir armed more than 17,000 settlers and transformed them into armed militias that carry out their role as this minister and his government see fit for the policy of decisiveness and annexation, which they practice without the slightest consideration for what international law and the laws of war impose on Israel to act as an occupying state.
Ben-Gvir is not content with building private armed militias staffed by ‘Hilltop Youth and Paying Price for their terrorist acts. He is also going further by integrating them into the police force operating in Yishai ‘Judea and Samaria’ I.E. the West Bank. On July 11, during a ceremony held at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, Ben-Gvir announced the establishment of a police unit of dozens of settlers, with the aim of implementing Tel Aviv s ‘sovereignty’ over the occupied West Bank.
The new unit includes dozens of volunteers from settlement residents and was established to provide a rapid and effective response to emergencies, in addition to contributing to enhancing personal security in the area, according to its statement. More than 100 volunteers have received advanced combat training and equipment and have been granted special police powers. The police said the unit was established based on strategic thinking to defend the settlements and provide a rapid, professional, and effective response to any incident.
Moreover, the Palestinians in the West Bank countryside are paying the price for this policy with their lands, property, homes and, more seriously, the blood of their children. Recently, 2 young men, one of whom was a Palestinian-American, were martyred and dozens of citizens were injured in a series of settler attacks, during which they attacked homes and ambulances and destroyed water tanks in the towns of Sinjil and Al-Mazra a Al-Sharqiya in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate. They were carried out under the protection of the occupation forces, who obstructed the provision of medical aid to the wounded and targeted citizens with tear gas canisters.
For its part, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported that the young man, Saif Al-Din Kamel Abdel Karim Muslat, 23 from the Al-Mazra a Al-Sharqiya town, was martyred after being severely beaten by settlers. Hours later, the ministry announced the martyrdom of the young man, Moh’d Al-Shalabi, from the town, after being hit by a live bullet in the chest that penetrated his back. He was left to bleed for several hours, and no trace of him was found during the attack until citizens and paramedics found him hours later.
This criminal act brings to mind what also happened in the Jeet village, Qalqilia. For four hours on the night of August 16, the villagers tried to repel the settlers attack on their homes and property, in one of the most violent confrontations the village has ever witnessed. Around 100 settlers stormed the village, armed with live and bladed weapons, and began smashing windows and doors with stones. Groups of them set fire to citizens vehicles, and a number of them tried to enter homes and set them on fire.
The young men in the village were trying to repel the attack and extinguish the fires that were raging in a number of cars, the settlers opened fire on Rashid Abdul Qader Al-Sadda, 23, seriously wounding him. He was later died at Rafidia Governmental Hospital in Nablus. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported at the time that testimonies collected from residents of the village, which is located near the settlements of Yitzhar, Itamar and Gilad, confirmed that the settlers attacked their village in organized groups that appeared to have been trained in advance to carry out the attack. According to the newspaper s website, after the attack, the settlers stood next to an army guard post, appearing to be part of its forces.
Within the context, we mustn’t forget the behavior of the occupation army, which participated with the settlers in their brutal attack on the Qariot village, Nablus, where the child, Bana Amjad Bakr, 13 was martyred as a result of a chest injury she sustained while she was inside her room at home with her sisters during a settler attack on the village. Noting that as the occupation soldiers withdrew from the village, they addressed the people by saying: go and request the Palestinian Authority to compensate you for the damage inflicted to your properties, according to what they reported in their conversation with the National Bureau for Defending the Land and Resisting Settlements.
The settlers’ terrorism spreads throughout the Palestinian territories, covering the towns and villages of Sinjil, Turmusayya, Al-Mughayyir, Barqa, Safa, Ni lin and Beitin in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate-;- Aqraba, Yanun, Qusra, Jalud, Al-Sawiya, Qaryut, Beita, Hawara, Asira Al-Qibliya, Duma, Madama and Burqa in the Nablus Governorate, Masafer Yatta, Bani Na im, Beit Umar and Surif in the Hebron Governorate, Al-Minya, Husan and Nahhalin in the Bethlehem Governorate, Qarawat Bani Hassan, Yasuf and Sakaka in the Salfit Governorate, and the Bedouin and farmer communities in Al-Mu arrajat, Bardala, Al-Farisiya, Um Al-Jimal, Al-Malih and Al-Auja in the Palestinian Jordan Valley. The occupation authorities claim that these terrorists represent a marginal phenomenon in Israeli society.
Though, former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has a different opinion. He admitted that the army kills Palestinians daily and that settler crimes in the West Bank are supported by the government. In an interview with Channel 13, he added, ‘soldiers kill Palestinians daily in the West Bank, and the ‘Hilltop Youth commit war crimes,’ adding, ‘Those are not a minority, but they receive support, otherwise they wouldn t have done so.’
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Forcing Maher al-Salaymeh, from Wadi Qaddum Neighborhood in Silwan, to demolish his own house about 140m2, which as built 35 years ago, consists of 2 apartments and houses 7 people.
- Assaulting Ahmad al-Maghribi, a bus driver from Jerusalem, while he was passing near the ‘Nabi Ya akov settlement’ in Beit Hanina, causing bruises and wounds to his face.
Hebron:
- Attacking the Susya village, assaulted residents by beating them and throwing stones at them, which resulted in the injury of 2 citizens with bruises, who were subsequently transferred by the Red Crescent to Yatta Governmental Hospital. In Masafer Yatta, a citizen was also injured with bruises during an attack by settlers on residents in the areas of Al-Tibyan and Al-Fakhit. In the Sa ir town, settlers attacked a worker while he was working near the ‘Gush Etzion settlement’ and beat him severely, which resulted in bruises and wounds, as a result of which he was transferred to a hospital in Bethlehem. Others attacked the homes of citizens in Wadi Sa ir, burning a number of cars and destroying the contents of 5 homes.
- Attacking the home and lands of citizen Nadi Al-Atawneh in the Shaab Mazou area, in the town of Beit Kahil, destroyed all its contents and uprooted trees from his land.
- Leveling citizens’ lands, and injured elderly Musa Ali al-Nawaj’a in the Birin village with wounds and bruises in various parts of his body after being severely beaten by settlers while he was on his agricultural land in Khirbet Umm Nir.
Bethlehem:
- Imjuring citizens including children after being attacked by settlers in the village of Al-Minya, after they attacked about 10 homes in the Wadi Sa ir area and threw stones at them, shattering their windows and causing panic among the residents. In turn, the Red Crescent Society said that it dealt with a 3-year-old girl who was injured in the head after being attacked by settlers near Al-Minya.
- Damaging a water tank and attacked citizens vehicles, throwing stones at them near the western roundabout of the the Tuqu town, resulting in damage to a number of them. The occupation forces also began bulldozing vast areas of the town s lands in preparation for paving a new settlement road in the area, while the elderly man Abdul Mahdi Matour, 60 was injured with fractures and bruises, as a result of the settlers assault on him, as they beat him with sticks, which led to injuries to his face and hand. In turn, settlers set up tents and uprooted 1,500 olive seedlings belonging to citizens from the Al-Majur and Jabarin families in the Minya lands. Others tried to burn down a house in the Kisan desert.
- Demolishing a multi-story residential building belonging to citizen Ala’ Al-Sharif, each floor having an area of 200m2 in the village of Mara Ma ala on the pretext of not having a permit, while they notified citizen Mahmoud Suleiman Zawahra of the demolition of his one-story house, with an area of 300m2 under the same pretext in the Al-Ma sara village.
Ramallah:
- Re-establishing a settlement outpost in the in the Turmusaya, after storming the Wadi al-Hamam area, roaming close to citizens homes, under the protection of occupation forces.
- Attacking citizens and their sheep, stealing dozens of them in the village of Barqa.
- Burning an agricultural barn in the Deir-Dibwan town, in the areas of al-Marj and Wadi al-Qatn, east of the town, and threw flammable materials on an empty barn used for storing fodder, which led to its complete burning.
- Renewing their attacks on the Ein Samia water wells, east of the Kafr Malik town, where they stormed the well area and caused extensive damage to the equipment, leading to a loss of communication and control over it.
Nablus:
- Injuring 3 citizens by a settler attack on the Sebastia town, near the Al-Masoudiya area on the Jenin-Nablus road.
- Destroying a water pipeline between the villages of Aqraba and Majdal Bani Fadel, which supplies the villages of Jurish, Qusra, Qaryut, Jalud, Duma, Talfit, and Majdal Bani Fadel. Settlers also destroyed agricultural lands in the Aqraba town, uprooting more than 100 olive trees, destroying water tanks, iron gates, land fences, and an agricultural reservoir.
- Establishing a new settlement outpost on lands belonging to the Salem town, installed several caravans and mobile homes on private agricultural lands, and set up 2 settlement tents on lands belonging to the Beit Dajan village.
- Building a synagogue on top of Mount Gerizim in Nablus, overlooking Yosif Tomb east of the city. One settler posted a video showing the synagogue, which is fully serviced, and overlooking most of Nablus and the movement of its citizens.
Jenin:
- Starting to construct a military road and an observation point on the lands of the village of Raba. The bulldozing operations extended over large areas of agricultural land as part of a policy aimed at expanding control over the area and preventing urban and agricultural expansion in the village. Furthermore, they erected a settlement tent on the lands of Jabal al-Salamah in the village in preparation for the establishment of a new settlement outpost in the area.
Salfeet:
- Demolishing a house and a two-story barn for manufacturing artificial stone in the northern area of the Rafat town, belonging to Amer Hassan Hamdan Asba, and a barn to Aziz Shaqir, which was used for manufacturing artificial stone.
- Setting up tents on citizens lands between the towns of Deiristiya and Qarawat Bani Hassan, in a move aimed at seizing them and establishing a new settlement.
Jordan Valley:
- Attacking the ‘Ahmir area’ in Khirbet al-Farisiya, vandalizing water tanks used for watering livestock and stealing fodder.
- Setting up 3 new caravans in the settlement outpost in the Qa un Plain, west of the Bardala town in the northern Jordan Valley.
- Destroying a school and stole its contents a week after displacing residents in the Ka abneh Bedouin community, north of Jericho. Settler groups have also escalated their provocations against residents in the Ein al-Hilweh area, one of the communities threatened with forced displacement in the northern Jordan Valley. They placed Israeli flags near residents tents and homes in the area, at a time when the area is witnessing almost daily incursions by groups of heavily armed settlers, who carry out repeated attacks aimed at intimidating residents and pushing them to leave.

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