New Settlement Plans around Jerusalem torpedo the Two State Solution

By: Madeeha Araj
The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report , that within their policy to end the so-called “two-state solution”, the occupation authorities have again resubmitted an old project to build thousands of new settlement residential and commercial units on the lands of the Qalandia area north of the occupied city, and they are currently promoting the construction of 10,000 settlement units in that area, specifically on the lands of the airport, which was seized in 1967, and classified it as “state lands,” to enable them building new settlement without the need to seize lands´-or-even objections on that.
This will be the 2nd settlement on the lands of East Jerusalem, since Israel approved the “Har Homa” settlement, which was established on Mount Abu Ghneim in 1997. Within the context of settlement projects, details of the largest economic and recreational settlement complex in the AlSahl Al-Ahmar “Red Plain”" area east of the occupied Jerusalem was revealed, after thousands of dunums of Palestinian land were confiscated. In its details, the scheme is based on an area of 100 dunums on private Jerusalem lands owned by the people of Silwan town, who possess all the official documents for this. The occupation authorities seized these lands years ago by military orders for the purpose of holding military training, and they were registered as “state lands.”

This settlement complex is located near the settlement of “Ma ale Adumim”, east of Jerusalem. Its construction cost is NIS 730 million as support by the government, and Israeli institutions and Jewish investors in the world. It includes commercial and entertainment centers, water canals, parking lots, restaurants and hotels designed in a modern Western style. The settlement project, which was inaugurated last Sept. is supervised by the Israeli Ministry of Housing and several institutions concerned with settlement affairs. The occupation authorities seek through this huge project to cut off any geographical contiguity between Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank from the eastern side.

In the Bethlehem Governorate, the occupation authorities surveyed large areas of land in the town of Al-Khader in the areas of (Bakush, Al-Sha’af, Room Patriarchate, and the West of the town, estimated at hundreds of dunams for the benefit of the settlements. At the same time, the occupation bulldozers began razing large areas of the lands of Sebastia town, northwest of Nablus, in favor of settlement expansion. The occupation forces closed the Al-Sahel area and prevented citizens from reaching their agricultural lands, while settlers called for an armed march in the Qana Valley once a month, the first starts from the settlement of “Havat Ya’ir” built west of Derastiya to the Al-Majur Spring.

As for settlers’ attacks on citizens during the olive season this year, many attacks took place against Palestinian farmers and their lands and olive trees in view and protection from the occupation army, in particular. These attacks were concentrated in the northern West Bank and varied between burning, theft and cutting down trees. Farmers were prevented from entering their lands, and sustained physical assault, as happened these days in the lands of Kafr Qaleel, Burin, Jalud, Qasra and Asira al-Qibliya in the Nablus Governorate, Bidya and Khallet Hassan in the Salfeet Governorate, Tayasir, Khallet Makhoul and Kardala in the northern Jordan Valley, Husan, Al-Khader and Beit Tamar in the Bethlehem Governorate and other areas. Towns and villages in the various governorates of the West Bank, and in identical estimates issued by Israeli and Palestinian institutions, including the National Bureau for Land Defense, as well as international organizations, the data indicate that settlers carried out 363 terrorist attacks against Palestinians in 2019.
This number rose to 507 in year 2020, and to 416 terrorist attacks in the first half of this year, i.e. more than all terrorist attacks perpetrated in 2019. Hebrew sources said that most of the terrorist attacks carried out by settlers during the last two years were in Hebron, Ramallah and Nablus, and that the largest number of Jewish terrorist attacks against Palestinians was in the area of the Yitzhar settlement south of Nablus, with a total of 84 attacks in the year 2020, followed by the outposts in Hebron, where settlers committed 83 terrorist attacks in the same year.

In a dangerous provocative ay that may ignite a religious war, the Israeli Court in occupied Jerusalem decided to grant Jews the right to perform “silent” prayers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in flagrant violation of the Islamic and sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and a clear provocation to the feelings of Muslims. This decision reaffirms the complicity of the Israeli judiciary in the falsification of facts on the ground. The organizations of the alleged temple published an announcement on their pages on social media calling on settlers to implement the court’s decision to “perform prayers” in Al-Aqsa during the daily incursions, and this came a day after the decision of the Court in which it was considered that Jewish prayer in Al-Aqsa Mosque is a “legitimate act that can’t be criminalized,” as long as those prayers are silent.
The Temple Mount Religious School called on settlers to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque daily to perform prayers and rituals, and modified its daily program of incursions to include prayers and rituals instead of mere storming. The Islamic bodies expressed their anger at these irresponsible decisions and violations that are being taken by the occupation courts, and the start of their exploitation and promotion by Jewish extremists. Thy also pointed out that the intent is to pass their latent plans and escalate their Judaization violations aimed at changing the existing religious, historical and legal status of Al-Aqsa Mosque as part of the relentless attempts to impose temporal and spatial division on the mosque, which enjoys a special status among Muslims in the world.

List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Demolishing 2 houses in the village of Bab Al-Shams near the town of Al-Zaim, east of occupied Jerusalem.
- Forcing a Jerusalemite to demolish his own house in the town of Beit Hanina in occupied Jerusalem, under the pretext of not having a building permit.
- Forcing the citizen Muhammad Al-Khatib to demolish his own house, which was built two years ago, in the town of Sur Baher, otherwise they will pay high fees.
- Handing demolition notices for 3 houses in the town of Silwan, and 2 houses in the Jabal Al-Mukaber, in addition to photographing buildings and facilities in the Ras Al-Amud neighborhood and Ras Khamis area of Shuafat town lands north of Jerusalem.
- Seizing an apartment belonging to a Jerusalemite family in the Wadi Al-Rababa neighborhood in Silwan town, attacked and sprayed them with pepper gas, and arrested a family member.
Hebron:
- Arresting 2 brothers, Othman and Abbas Abu Qubaita, in the Lsefer gathering which is isolated by the apartheid wall east of Yatta, south of Hebron.
- Handing demolition notices of houses and agricultural facilities in the Masafer Yatta and the village of Birin, southeast of Hebron, as they photographed 3 tents, a barn, a tin house, agricultural rooms and two caravans.
- Handing the citizen Khaled Nawajaa a notice to stop work in his house in the village of Susiya in the Al-Mosafer.
- Seizing an agricultural “caravan” from the town of Yatta, south of Hebron.
- Uprooting more than 100 olive trees on an area of 20 dunums in the Taybeh area on the bypass road towards the Tarqumia crossing, northwest of Hebron, aged three years,.
Nablus:
- Assaulting the citizen, Nael Owais, which causes him wounds in the head.
- Injuring 5 citizens as a result of the Israeli forces assault in the town of Al-Lubban, Al-Shaqrqyieh.
- Bulldozing the Wadi Al-Sawiya, reaching the lands of the town of Yasuf, over an area of 4 km.
- Expelling the farmers from their lands in the Khirbet Yanun, which belongs to the municipality of Aqraba, south of Nablus.
- Assaulting the Palestinian families during olive picking in the southern area in the town of Burin, and attempting to steal olive sacks and cuting down dozens of fruitful olive trees in the town .
- Stealing of olives from the lands of Kafr Qelil town, south of Nablus.
- Torching fire on the lands of citizens in the villages of Qasra and Goresh on the outskirts of the mountain before it spread to large areas.
Salfeet-;-
- Preventing farmers from entering and working on their lands in the town of Bidya, west of Salfit.
- Closing the road leading to agricultural lands in the Khallet Hassan area in the north of Baladiya, and preventing the farmers’ access to their lands. It should be noted that Khallet Hassan, which has an area of 4,000 dunams, is threatened by settlement expansion and the establishment of a new settlement, linking five settlements and a number of blocs and outposts between Salfit and Qalqilya governorates.
- Handing over a notice to stop work at the archaeological “Dar Al-Darb” site in the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, west of Salfit, under the pretext of being in the area “C”.
- Forcing a citizen to stop work on building his house in the town of Bruqin, west of Salfit, under the pretext of being in the area "C".
Jordan valley:
- Pursuing the cattle herders in the northern Jordan Valley, east of Khallet Makhoul, in the Jordan Valley, and preventing them from being in that area.
- Storming the “Bayarat Saud” area, east of Tubas, close to the Tayseer Military Checkpoint.

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