‘Religious Zionism’ interested ministries to carry out new settlement activities

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj

The national Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report that ,leaders of the ‘Jewish Religious Zionism’ seek to control the most important government ministries i.e. the so called ‘Ministry of Defense’ in order to help them achieve their goals, as it is a decisive factor in issues related to all aspects of life in the West Bank. It is also the body that approves holding meetings of the Higher Planning Council, the body responsible for giving licenses Building in the settlements, and in ‘Religious Zionism’, its representatives to the Knesset seem to be planning to hold it continuously, after the settlement council ‘Yeshaa’ complained about the lack of its meetings.
Besides, the Ministry of Transportation, as Smotrich s tenure as Minister of Transportation resulted in an unprecedented investment in infrastructure in the West Bank. Knowing that 9 settlers have won membership in the 25th Knesset, and 6 of them will enter the Knesset. The ‘Religious Zionism’ party, led by Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, who live in 2 settlements in the depths of the West Bank, the first in “Kedumim” on the lands of Qalqilya governorate and the second in “Kiryat Arba” in Hebron, and they won a clear electoral program entitled ‘Settlement and Sovereignty.’

In addition, it is expected that religious Zionism will also demand the Ministry of Housing and Construction, the ministry responsible for building tenders in large settlements, the Ministry of Interior, which gives control over the budgets of regional councils, and the goals that occupied a central place in the electoral program of "religious Zionism" in everything related to the areas Beyond the Green Line, in addition to stopping construction and farming for Palestinians in the Masnana areas and in the agreements between the Palestinian and Israeli parties, there are Area C and the legalization of illegal settlement outposts.

“The battle over Area C,” as they call it in “religious Zionism,” will be -dir-ected at stopping Palestinian construction in this part of the West Bank that is under the security and civil control of the occupation authorities, and in which Israeli building and planning laws apply. Its deputies intend to advance a plan to expand construction in the settlements and conduct a census among the Palestinian population in Area C. The census is being planned as a pre-annexation step, and it aims to ensure that Palestinians who do not live in Area C cannot move to it after the completion of the annexation process.

Within the context and in the days when a new right-wing government is being formed, with a clear agenda to promote settlement construction in the West Bank, the municipality of the settlement of “Ma’ale Adumim” east of occupied Jerusalem submitted a petition to the District Court in Jerusalem to demanding the implementation of plan to build a new settlement neighborhood in the E1 area, which connects the north of the West Bank to its south, which was frozen under pressure from the United States.

This petition comes in the context of putting pressure on the next Israeli government through the settler representatives in particular, and it is known that the area being talked about reaches an area of about 12 square kilometers, and it was included in the municipal boundaries of the city in the 90 of the last century.” The structural plan for settlement construction was approved in the area was completed in 1998, and 2 detailed plans were prepared for its implementation, but they were not published until February 2020, ‘when it is scheduled to build 3500 settlement units in this area known as ‘Mubasher Adumim.
On the other hand, the “Elad” settler association received NIS 28 million from the occupation government to support its settlement and Judaization projects in the Wadi al-Rababa neighborhood in Silwan, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, with the aim of changing the character of the land and seizing it, under the pretext of “gardening.” The Judaization project serves to develop the Jerusalem area as a tourist destination for the benefit of the settlers, at the expense of the original owners of the land, and to strip their rights and confiscate their lands and real estate in Silwan town, and expel them from it. The Elad settler association is one of the richest non-governmental organizations in Israel, and it supervises about 70 settlement outposts, most of which are located in the Wadi Hilweh area.

List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Forcing a Palestinian citizen to demolish his own home in the Dahyat Al-Salam area, northeast of occupied Jerusalem under the pretext of not having a building permit and threatening to fine him NIS 100,000 if refused to do so.
- Demolishing a house under construction in the Beit Hanina town and a bakery in the Shuafat camp under the pretext of not having a building permit.
- Announcing to demolish the martyr Uday Al-Tamimi’s house.
Bethlehem:
- Attacking citizens vehicles on the main street between the towns of Taqu and Jannat, southeast of Bethlehem.
- Demolishing an agricultural tent in the village of Walaja under the pretext of not having a building permit.
Ramallah:
- Cutting about 100 olive trees, stealing 50 of them in the Dahrat area in the village of Turmusaya, and 120 olive trees from the land belonging to the citizen Saeed Shukri Zaatar in the village.
- Demolishing a two-storey house in the Qibya village, west of Ramallah, in the Khirbet area belonging to a citizen of the 48 lands, under the pretext of not having a building permit.
- Preventing the Deir Nitham village council, northwest of Ramallah from completing a work on the expansion of the main street of the village and the extension of a water network, seized a pump and a concrete mixer working in the site as well.
Salfet:
- Stealing 19 bags of olives and machines and equipment in the ‘Al-Abarat/Aqab area, north of the town of Kafr al-Dik.
- Attacking the citizens’ vehicles with stones on the main street at the western entrance to the village of Haris under the protection of the Israeli forces, knowing that the occupation forces closed the Iron Gate there.

Jordan Valley:
- Demolishing a house and fences as well as bulldozing lands east of Jericho in the Al-Matar area, demolished a 200 m2 house belonging to Imad Abu Ghannam as well.
- Demolishing 4 walls and bulldozing lands in the same area.
- Seizing parts of the lands affiliated to the Ministry of Waqf, in the Al-Auja area, north of the city of Jericho.
- Closing the entrance to the village of Zbeidat north of Jericho and raising the flags of the occupation, prevented citizens from entering and leaving the village as well.

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