New Israeli settlement building plans targeting the Dead Sea

The Israeli occupation’s settlement building plans continue to be expanded in every city, town and area in the West Bank, including in the Dead Sea area, particularly after the occupation has seized swathes of land resulted from the receding of the sea’s water with the aim of establishing more settlements.

In its weekly report published on Saturday, the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s (PLO) National Bureau for Defending the Land and Resisting Settlements said that the Dead Sea, which the Palestinians are prevented to visit by the occupation, loses swathes of its land annually because of the aggressive practices of occupation authorities which block the resources that supply the sea.

The occupation also seeks to seize the areas covered by the sea water through announcing a plan to establish floating settlement outposts, said the report, pointing out that this plan is part of the occupation’s policy of looting the natural resources of the Palestinian people.

The report clarified that these violations by the occupation authorities cause the destruction of Palestinian natural resources, noting that environmental experts have warned that such practices will lead to the drying up of the Dead Sea in light of the decrease in its water level at 1.5 meter annually, and because the sea area is shrinking by 35% within four decades.

In the same context, the report said that over the past week, the occupation announced a plan to build 1250 settlement units to expand a settlement already built in Beit Jala town, northwest of Bethlehem, in addition to 700 settlement units to expand a settlement in Beit Sfafa town and 162 settlement units in Sha’fat camp in occupied Al-Quds.

According to the report, the occupation forces demolished a house and two agricultural facilities in Taqou’ town, east of Bethlehem, and demolished another house in Ariha (Jericho). They also uprooted 100 perennial olive trees in Wadi Sa’ir, near Al-Khalil city, and 50 trees in the town of Takou’ town.

The report went on to say that the Israeli settlers, under the protection of the occupation forces, continued to attack the Palestinians and their property in different West Bank areas and to storm into Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Hamda Mustafa