US Administration: Postponement of Israeli Annexation Plan Until Israeli - Arab Normalization Agreements are completed

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj

In an unprecedented American step that encourages the annexation plans, the United States of America has removed the restrictions imposed on financing scientific researches that Israel carries out at its establishments in the West Bank and the Golan Heights, where the Israeli PM Netanyahu and Friedman signed a number of agreements that authorize the expansion of scientific cooperation agreements between Israel and the United States, coincided with a provocative and aggressive statement by the American Embassy in which it stated that the United States and Israel agreed to remove the geographical restrictions between them. Friedman added that the abolition of geographical restrictions and the American resumption of investment of US -$- 1.4 billion in the Israeli research institutions in the West Bank, thus, we correcting an old mistake. In his turn, the Israeli Minister of Higher Education, Ze ev Elkin said, this is a major achievement in order to advance sovereignty in what he called “Judea and Samaria” (the West Bank) and to strengthen “Ariel University”, as another stage in order to stop the boycott of this university, while Netanyahu considered that the implementation of this scientific agreement on “Judea and Samaria and the Golan” as a tremendous change, and a victory over all the organizations and states that boycott them. Avi Berkowitz, the US president s envoy to the Middle East, said last Thursday that the Israeli plan to annex Palestinian lands in the West Bank had been postponed until the completion of the normalization processes between Israel and Arab countries.

As for settlement plans, the occupation government s activities continue to build settlement units in Hebron. The plan to expand settlement in Hebron is implemented after the settlers got an official approval to build in the wholesale market compound, where 60 settlement units are planned to be built in the place. The plan aims at doubling the number of settlers in the city, where an official at the Yeshov Jewish Settlement Association said: "This is the largest construction project in Hebron since the days of our predecessor Ibrahim." Nefali Bennet, former Israeli army minister has given in December 2019 the green light for settlers to rebuild the wholesale market compound, which was abandoned for many years after a group of settlers occupied it in 2001 after Al-Aqsa Intifada. This settlement project form a geographical settlement continuation between Al-Ibrahimi Mosque and the nearby settlement district of “Abraham Avinu”, thus doubling the number of settlers in the city.

On the other hand, the olive-picking season this year witnessed great suffering due to settlers’ violations and Jewish terrorism organizations, especially from settlement outposts and some settlements, especially in Nablus and Ramallah governorates. In response to the attacks during the olive season in Palestine, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that ‘the olive-picking season in Palestine was disrupted by people known as Israeli settlers in 19 incidents, as 23 Palestinian farmers were injured. More than one thousand olive trees were set on fire, and large amounts of crops were stolen in several areas in the West Bank, and the report indicated that Burka village east of Ramallah and agricultural areas near Hawara town in Nablus, and the villages of Nalin and BeitElo in Ramallah were also violated.

As for the policy of demolishing houses of Palestinian citizens, a Palestinian Human Rights organization warned against ‘Israeli license conditions’ targeting Palestinian territories in the areas C, which make it impossible for getting a license. The Jerusalem Center for Legal Assistance said that the pace of violations on the ground indicates that the occupying Power is continuing to carry out demolition plans, an indication of which is that new instructions have been issued regarding licenses in areas C most of them are copied from the Israeli Law on Regulation and Construction, which is applied in Israel. Within the context of those instructions, there are conditions that make it impossible to apply for an operation license.

The reactions continue to condemn Israel s settlement activities in different West Bank areas, as UN envoy in the Middle East Nikolai Mladenov said that the occupation authorities plan to build 5000 settlement units in the West Bank, which raises great danger. As these new settlement tenders and existing settlement expansion plans hinder the continuation of the Palestinian state, he pointed out in his report on the situation in the Palestinian territories at the Security Council’s special session that the two-state solution should be put into effect because we need to move forward on the road to peace. Michael Link, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories and an international human rights expert, said that the Israeli government s recent announcement of its approval to build nearly 5,000 additional settlement homes in the occupied Palestinian territories is a serious violation of international law, calling on the international community to respond to this serious violation of international law by deeds not words.

List of Israeli Occupation and Settlers Assaults over the Last Week
Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
• Forcing Majed Mustafa Al-Salamiya to demolish his own house in the Beit Hanina town, north of Jerusalem to avoid paying high fines in case of being demolished by the Israeli forces.
• Demolishing a building under construction containing six stores in the Sha’fat Refugee Camp.
• Demolishing two houses in the Al-Sawahra lands near the ‘Nasej Al-Haya’ road linking the lands of Al-Sawahra and the endowment of the Prophet Mosa.
• Demolishing a house belonging to Ismail Khalil Hathalin, next to the Al-Tahdi School 2 in the Al-Mentar area.
• Demolishing a two-story residential building in the Sor Baher town, south of Jerusalem, belonging to the Jerusalemite family under the pretext of not having a building permit.
Ramallah:
• Cutting 150 olive trees in the Sa id Hussein Abu alia’s lands near the "Adi Aad" settlement.
Hebron:
• Assaulting shepherds in the Tha la area east of Yatta, prevented them from entering the pasture.
• Setting up two tents in the Beren village, east of Hebron in an attempt to seize the citizens lands, displaced them and expanded the Bani Hefer settlement.
• Notifying Moussa Abu Fnar to stop working in his under construction house in the Mosafer Yatta. And notifying to stop working on the electricity network that supplies residents of that area with electricity.
• Seizing an agricultural tractor belonging to the Abu Turki family in the Beren village under the pretext of being in area C.
• Demolishing a house in the Wadi al-Awwar area south of Hebron, composed of two residential rooms belonging to Bilal al-Ajlouni under the pretext of not having a building permit in the area C.
• Erecting barbed wire, bulldozing wide areas of the citizens lands in the Khirbet Zanote, east of Al-Zaheriya town.
• Demolishing the water systems that feed 22 residents of the Mosafer Yatta south of Hebron in an attempt to displace the citizens in favor of settlement expansion.
Bethlehem:
• Filming a house and barns for raising horses and livestock in the Khilat Al-Samak area in the center of the Waljah village, northwest of Bethlehem.
• Notifying the citizen Hamdan to demolish his own house and his barns two months ago under the pretext of not having a building permit.
• Sieging an area adjacent to the Gosh Atison Israeli gathering in the Palestinian lands south of Bethlehem in an attempt to establish a new Israeli camp to protect Israeli settlers.
Nablus:
• Cutting a number of olive trees in the Palestinian lands known as the Karkfa east of the Jalod area, south of Nablus.
• Attacking a Palestinian with stones in the Asira al-Qabaliya village south of Nablus, and then admitted to hospital.
• Attacking citizens homes in the eastern area of the Burin village, south of Nablus, injured Moh’d Zaben , Bashir Zaben and Ahmed Bashir Zaben and transferred to hospital , attached the citizens vehicles in the village as well.
• Stealing olive harvest equipment in the Jalod village, south of Nablus, including three olive-picking ladders, 13 saws for pruning trees from Mah’d Fawzi Hajj Mohamad’s land.
• Bulldozing wide areas of the Palestinian lands in the Kafr Al-Deek and Burqin villages, west of Salfit, to expand the Burhin settlement as the Israeli forces paved the street , and expected to set up iron gates and fences around it which means the annexation of about 150 dunums planted with more than 400 olive trees, so that their owners will be prevented from reaching these lands, but with permits.
Jenin:
• Demolishing a 130m2 house in the Tiba village, adjacent to the apartheid wall west of Jenin belonging to Ahmad Mahmoud Jabarin under the pretext on not having a building permit.
• Taking the measurements of the Abu Bakr al-Seddiq Mosque located on the Main Street in the Bir al-Basha village, south of Jenin.

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