Armed settler militias act in densely Populated areas of the West Bank

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj

The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report that , in a dangerous precedent, settlers formed armed militia to carry out night attacks in ‘Road 60’ that passes through the Hawwara town, south of Nablus against some areas inhabited by Palestinians, knowing that settlers members of the militia are using weapons licensed by the Israeli Civil Administration.
As for the so-called Israeli Planning and Building Committee, it has approved a settlement plan named, ‘The National Park - Al-Ghozlan’, which covers an area of about 700 dunums in the settlement of Pisgat Ze ev in the occupied Jerusalem, which is considered the largest Israeli settlements surrounding the city with about 55,000 settlers, and it separates the Palestinian Neighborhoods from each other that expanded at the lands of 5 villages, namely: Shuafat , Beit Hanina, West Hizma, North Anata and Shuafat Refugee Camp.

After the construction of the Apartheid Wall, the settlement became inside it in the northern part of Jerusalem, while Shuafat Refugee Camp was excluded behind the wall in addition to building a military crossing which separate the camp and a large part of Shuafat and Anata lands from the center of East Jerusalem. This approval order is a confirmation of the confiscation decisions of about 1,170 dunums of the lands of Shuafat, Beit Hanina and Anata.

On the other hand, the Israeli Occupation Municipality in Jerusalem recommended the Israeli District Committee to put forward 3 plans in order to build 706 units on the ruins of buildings in the Talbieh Neighborhood within what is now called ‘Talibot’. The first plan includes the demolition of 7 residential buildings of 3 to 4 floors, containing of 104 units, and a residential complex will be built in their place, consisting of 4 towers of 25 floors containing 390 units. The plan also includes a mixture of commercial centers, kindergartens, day care centers, and a Jewish church in the residential buildings area, besides, allocating about 3 dunums for a school, and about a dunum for open public spaces.

Whereas the second plan is located at the intersection of the railway and the light rail station, the plot area covers 3 donums with 3 residential buildings of 4 floors each, 16 units in each building with a total of 48 units. The plan entails evacuating the three existing buildings, and constructing 2 buildings of 19 to 25 floors, including 168 housing units, and a commercial ground floor toward the light rail.

As for the third plan, it consists of industrial buildings and a gas station. The plan involves evictions and the construction of a mixed-use complex in its place that includes residential, employment and commercial buildings, along with a public building and an open public space in the industrial area, on an area of 7,491 dunumms and comprising 148 residential units in 2 towers.

Within the context of Judaization operations, the Israeli authorities have created a special application called “Amud Anan” that is used in maps and navigation and is considered one of the most important interactive applications used by settlers in the West Bank to perform spiritual and false national and tourist links with Palestinian geography. The application was created in 2004, and was introduced to public use in 2007.
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Hebron:
• Demolishing a house in the Al-Rkeez area, south of Hebron under the pretext of building without a permit.
• Dozens of settlers smashed the windows of a number of vehicles after throwing stones at them and attacked civilians in the Wadi al-Hussain area, adjacent to the Kiryat Arba settlement.
• Erecting an iron gate at the entrance to Hosh al-Sharif near the Ibrahimi Mosque in preparation for seizing it, and declaring it a closed military area"
Bethlehem:
• Seizing construction equipment in the village of Artas, where the occupation stormed the Suleiman Pools area, raided a construction workshop and seized a small bulldozer and other equipment.
• Military maneuvers in the town of Tuqu after it closed the western entrance to the town with the Iron Gate, and reinforced its military presence near the village of Miniyeh.
• Storming the Khilat Hajji industrial area in Beit Fajjar and forced the quarry owners and workers to evacuate the place, and seized stone scissors and marble, estimated at NIS 600,000.
Ramallah:
• Demolishing 2 dwellings in the Ain Samiya al-Badawi community near the village of Kafr Malik, east of Ramallah
• Firing live bullets at citizens and shepherds in the Jabal al-Habazi area north of Ni lin town to prevent them from entering their lands.
• Attacking citizens vehicles near the settlement of ‘Beit El’, which is built on Palestinian lands north of Al-Bireh, which smashed the windows of a number of cars and caused material damage to the m .
Salfeet:
• Uprooting 50 olive trees in the Al-Zawiya town, west of Salfeet to build water lines for the “Mekorot” company, linking between the settlement of “Arael” in the east, and the settlement of “Al-Kana” northwest of the town. The damage caused by the implementation of this project is estimated at approximately 40 dunums.
• Destroying a number of commercial stands near the entrance to the Haris town under the pretext of being in Area C.
Tulkarm:
• Destroying a well of water in the eastern area of the village of Al-Ras and filled it with concrete, and seized a water pump and a truck that was parked in the place and forced the municipality crews to leave the place, knowing that the well was dug by the municipality last year for drinking purposes to alleviate the water shortage crisis in the village especially in summer, after the Israeli company ‘Mekorot’ refused to provide the village with more necessary water.
• Backfilling water well in the area between the villages of Kour and Kafr Abush with concrete, knowing that the well was dug a year and a half ago to serve the two villages.

Jordan Valley:
• Chasing shepherds in the Burj area in the northern Jordan Valley.
• Storming the Wadi Al-Faw area in the northern Jordan Valley, and seized a vehicle belonging to an institution working in the field of installing solar cells in the Jordan Valley.
• Destroying a fence and a water network near the cooperative village of Al-Awsaj, north of Jericho, and seized it. Knowing that the Awsaj agricultural village is built on 100 dunums, and is considered a model for the first agricultural villages in Palestine.
• Confiscating 7 tents in the village of Al-Auja, north of the city of Jericho under the pretext that these tents are located in areas C”
• Demolishing 3 houses in the Arab Rashaida Bedouin community, southwest of Jericho.

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