Israeli occupation tightens the noose on the Palestinians in the West Bank

The Israeli occupation has announced the establishment of 11 settlement outposts in several West Bank cities in a blatant escalation of settlement expansion and in complete disregard to the UN resolutions.

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 occupation seized 320 dunums in Amatin town in Qalqilya and 156 dunums in Deir Esteya town in Salfit city to expand a settlement already built on the lands of the two towns.

The occupation authorities also announced a plan to establish 10 new settlement outposts, of which nine are to be built in the cities of Al-Khlail, Ramallah and Bethlehem in north of the West Bank and the tenth one will be built in the village of Al-Laban Al-Sharqiya, south of the city of Nablus, the report said, pointing out that 4,000 olive trees are expected to be uprooted as a result of implementing this plan.

According to the report, the occupation forces began military exercises on the lands of some villages in Masafer Yatta town, south of Al-Khalil. The occupation forces used rockets, tanks, machineguns, bulldozers and different vehicles in these exercises which pose a threat to  the lives of the Palestinians who reside in these areas.

The report pointed out that in a statement issued on Friday, Acting United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian Territories Yvonne Healy called on Israel to halt demolitions, military activities and other increasingly coercive measures in the villages of Masafer Yatta and allow the residents remain in their homes in safety and dignity. She noted the direct impact of any demolitions on the lives and livelihoods of these people, as these measures may amount to “violations of human rights, including forced evictions and exposing people to the risk of forcible transfer, which constitutes a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

The report indicated that the occupation continues to set up concrete separation walls in the West Bank cities, where the apartheid wall has occupied more than 13 percent of the area, as since the construction of the wall and the isolation of West Bank from the territories occupied in 1948, the occupation has built several concrete walls in the heart of West Bank cities, including in Tel Rumeida area in Al-Khalil and the center of Bethlehem.

Hamda Mustafa