By: Madeeha Al-A’raj
The national Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report that , the Palestinian and International circles are concerned about the expansion of settlement and Judaizing activities in light of the rise of Zionist Fascism that managed to impose its agenda on the leader of the Likud and the next Israeli PM Netanyahu, especially as he intends to grant his powers regarding construction approvals in the settlements to Bezalel Smotrich. Thus, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Winsland, said in a briefing to the UN Security Council that the occupation authorities tripled plans to build settlement units in East Jerusalem during the year 2022 compared to the previous year.
Knowing that the Occupation Authorities put forward plans to build 3,100 settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem in 2022, compared to 900 in 2021 . Winsland pointed out that settlement bids in the city has doubled from 200 in 2021 to 400 in 2022. He stated that the occupation authorities pushed plans to build 4,800 settlement units in the West Bank in the year 2022 compared to 5,400 in the year 2021, and stressed that the Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem is still a source of deep concern, as the settlements constitute a flagrant violation to the United Nations resolutions and International Law and undermine the possibilities of achieving the two-state solution.
Moreover, the Occupation Authorities has begun to build the Wooden Bridge over Wadi Al-Rababa between Al-Thawri and Silwan in the occupied East Jerusalem, as part of the government’s plan to surround the Old City with settlement-Talmudic motives. The “Local and District Committee” in the Occupation Municipality agreed in 2020 to start implementing the project, after rejecting all the objections submitted by the land owners and the concerned institutions in Silwan to the municipal courts in jerusalem. The length of the bridge is about 200m, at a cost of NIS 20 million, which expected to be completed in May next year.
According to the plan, its construction includes development works on both sides of the bridge, which will include walkways, fences, streets, shading systems, landscaping, irrigation, and lighting works on both sides and along the bridge.
At the same time, settlement associations in cooperation with the Occupation Authorities and Municipality continue to raze lands belonging to the Islamic WAQF Department in the area completely adjacent to the southeastern wall of Al-Aqsa, and the Umayyad Palaces area that are 80 meters away from it, in order to build to establish ‘Biblical Gardens,’ and to carry out other projects in the targeted area, as part of a project to surround the Old City and Al-Aqsa Mosque with a belt of ‘biblical gardens’, and to completely Judaize the area, noting that the area that is being bulldozed amounts to about 50 dunums out of the total area of about 120 dunums, which is pure Islamic WAQF.
Within the context of the plan to besiege the Holy City with settlements and Judaize it, the Civil Administration with the approval of Minister of Army, Benny Gantz, plans to present a plan before the Israeli ‘Supreme Court’ aimed at deporting the residents of the Bedouin village of Al-Khan Al-Ahmar in the occupied Jerusalem to a place close to its current location on an empty land, away about 300 meters from the current location. The Israeli Supreme Court also is preparing to hold a session after 45 days, in which it will hear the response of the representative of the ‘state’ regarding the evacuation of Al-Khan Al-Ahmar.
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Forcing a Palestinian citizen to demolish his house in the Jabal Al-Mukaber town or paying huge sums of money if it carries out the demolition.
- Demolishing a shop in Al-Bustan Neighborhood in Silwan.
- Storming the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque from the side of the Morocco Gate, under heavy guard of the occupation police, who continued to impose restrictions and strict measures that impede the entry of Palestinians into the courtyards of AlAqsa Mosque to facilitate the storming of settlers every day at 4:30 pm.
- Attacking Jerusalemites and their property in Wadi Hilweh Neighborhood.
Hebron:
- Building a road towards the ‘Faraa water spring’ in the citizens' lands, with the aim of seizing it for the benefit of settlement, knowing that the land area exceeds 70 dunums.
- Invading the ‘Tell Ma'in’ site, and performed Talmudic rituals there.
- Storming the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, and lit a candlestick inside its halls, in the so-called ‘Hanukah’ holiday that lasts until next week.
- Demolishing an agricultural room in Tal Ma'in in the Carmel town, and a sheep tent in the village of Al-Tawana, owned by the citizen Nasser Al-Adra, and confiscated a tent in Khallet Al-Dabaa in the town of Yatta, south of Hebron.
Bethlehem:
- Seizing a bulldozer in the village of Beit Tamar, east of Bethlehem.
- Uprooting 100s of almond and olive trees, demolishing stone chains and an agricultural pond, and bulldozing 28 dunums of land in the Al-Khallah area, north of Wadi Fuqin village, west of Bethlehem.
Ramallah:
- Killing 2 brothers, Mohamad and Mohanad Youssef Mtair, from Qalandia Refugee Camp, north of occupied Jerusalem, after being deliberately run over by a settler, near the Za'tara Military Checkpoint, south of Nablus.
Nablus:
- Demolishing a facility for setting up and painting vehicles in the town of Sebastia, under the pretext of not having a license.
- Demolishing a paved road leading to citizens' homes west of the village of Deir Sharaf, about 500 meters long.
- Storming the historic shrine of ‘Al-Aziz’ in the Awarta town, and the shrine of Yusuf in the district of Nablus, and they performed Talmudic rituals and lit candles in the shrine.
- Killing Ahmed Atef Daraghmeh, 23, and five others were wounded by the Israeli occupation forces.
Salfeet:
- Uprooting 20 olive saplings in the Al-Ras area in the Qarawat Bani Hassan town.
- Chopping 2 olive trees from the lands of the Yasuf town.
- Attacking citizen, Yasser Shalabi, from the village of Masha, near the Al-Taybeh Junction, Ramallah, and they damaged his car.
Jericho:
- Demolishing 2 houses in Jericho, the first in the Airport area, consisting of two floors, and the other consisting of one floor. Noteworthy that the occupation authorities delivered notices to demolish 13 other houses in the Airport area, while notifying 67 houses in the aforementioned area to correct their situation under the pretext that they are located in areas C"
- Photographing constructions and roads in Khirbet al-Ras al-Ahmar, south of Tubas, which raises fears of demolitions and bulldozing operations in the area soon.