Israeli occupation authorities seize more lands in Bethlehem to continue settlement expansion

Occupied Al-Qusds, (ST) – The Israeli occupation authorities have continued to implement colonial annexation plans in the West Bank,  the most recent of which is its announcement of a plan to establish a settlement and expand another in the city of Bethlehem to displace the Palestinians from it, and to impose new realities on the ground amid the international community’s ignoring of the Palestinians’ demands for the necessity of putting an end to the occupation’s violations.

In a statement to a SANA correspondent, the coordinator of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority in Bethlehem, Hassan Barijiyah said that the new settlement plan targets the lands of the villages of Al-Walaja and Battir and the town of Al-Khader. He added that this plan is divided into two parts, the first includes establishing a new settlement that includes hundreds of settlement units on the lands of the villages of Al-Walaja and Battir, with the aim of separating Bethlehem from Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and then linking this settlement to settlements established south of Al-Quds. The second section includes the seizure of 320 dunams of the lands of the town of Al-Khader to expand a settlement established on its lands, which constitutes a starting point for settlers to carry out their attacks on the villages of Bethlehem. “This matter applies to all settlements, as they are hotbeds of settler terrorism and attacks on Palestinian villages and towns”, he said.

Brijiyeh pointed out that this settlement plan aims to seize eight basins that constitute the food basket of Bethlehem, and the area of each basin exceeds 120 dunums, as it will devour the most fertile agricultural areas, threatening to displace dozens of Palestinian families. He pointed out that the danger of this plan lies in that it will divide geographically and demographically, the city is afflicted by settlement and the apartheid wall, which extends 17 km deep into its territories.

In turn, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Mustafa Barghouti pointed out that the settlement plans targeting the city of Bethlehem are part of a systematic plan by the Israeli occupation to seize 60 percent of the area of the West Bank, confine the Palestinian presence to small areas and cut off geographical communication between them. He added that the occupation has prepared a plan to raise the number of settlers in the West Bank to one million settlers by building settlement roads deep into the West Bank and expanding the settlements.

Barghouti stressed that the Palestinians will continue to resist and stand firm on the ground to thwart the occupation’s settlement plans, and will continue to work with all international institutions to expose the crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people, leading to stopping them and holding their perpetrators accountable.

Raghda Sawas