Israeli occupation to confiscate wide areas in the West Bank to continue implementing its settlement expansion scheme

The Israeli occupation has announced eight settlement building plans that will lead to seizing swathes of areas in the West Bank amid the international community’s complete silence and disregard to the Palestinians’ calls for implementing the UN resolutions which call for halting the Israeli settlement building activities.

The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) National Bureau for Defending the Land and Resisting Settlements said in its weekly report published on Saturday that the Israeli occupation announced 6 plans to establish 1208 settlement units over an area of 953 dunums in the West Bank. The aim is to expand a settlement already built on the lands of  Al-Jeib village, west of occupied Al-Quds, Deir Istiyeh village in Salfit and Al-Saweya, Yetma and Al-Laban Al-Sharqiya villages in Nablus.

The seventh project provides for establishing 528 settlement units on the land of Al-Waljeh and Bateir towns in Bethlehem, the report added, pointing out that 520 dunums from the land of Al-Walja will be seized by the occupation, thereby isolating it completely.

According to the report, this project constitutes the first stage of a scheme the occupation intends to implement in three stages to establish 5,000 settlement units on 26,000 dunums of land in the area between the cities of Al-Quds and Bethlehem. The aim is to create a geographical connection between the Israeli settlements in this area at the expense of the Palestinian lands.

The report went on to say that within the framework of its eighth project, the occupation announced seizing more than 600 dunums planted with grape and olive trees from the land of Terqoumia town, in the northwest of the West Bank city of Al-Khalil, with the aim of expanding two settlements already built in the town.

The report pointed out that the occupation forces continued over the past week to demolish Palestinians’ houses, burn agricultural lands and prevent farmers from reaching their fields in several West Bank areas.

The Israeli settlers also continued with their attacks on the towns and villages of the West Bank under the heavy protection of the occupation forces, according to the report.

Hamda Mustafa