11 aug 2019
Qusai Burqan, left, says the demolition will cost his family 74,000 shekels ($21,200), which he is unable to pay
By Jan-Peter Westad in Wadi Yasul, Occupied East Jerusalem
Inhabitants of Wadi Yasul are latest victims of 'environmental' master plan to achieve demographic shift in East Jerusalem
On a hill just south of the Old City lies a 54-hectare thriving pine forest, located within the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan - one of occupied East Jerusalem's most ghettoized areas, owing to Israeli government and settler initiatives.
The park, named the "Peace Forest," is for many visitors a tourist attraction, promoted as a "natural treasure" in the wider Israeli City of David archaeological site open to the public.
The forest was created and named shortly after Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, by the Jewish National Fund, an organisation that financially supports illegal Jewish settlement projects targeting Palestinian neighbourhoods.
Since the 1970s, the area has been zoned by the Israeli government as "green," meaning construction there is prohibited.
In 1977, the government handed control of the City of David project to the El-Ad Jewish settlement group.
The area of Wadi Yasul in Silwan, housing over 500 residents, has been slated for demolition by Israeli authorities.
With nowhere to expand over the decades, the residents of Wadi Yasul have had to build without difficult-to-obtain Israeli permits, subjecting them to demolition orders and displacement.
'Every day you step out of your house is a risk'
Qusai and Anas Burqan built and lived with their families in the two homes, which were demolished two weeks after El-Ad received approval from various governmental institutions to develop commercial enterprises in the park.
The projects, supported through funding and land allocation by the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality, the Israel Land Authority and the Tourism Ministry, include a visitor centre, campgrounds and a zipline.
"They have destroyed all my chances to live a modest life," father-of-three Qusai Burqan, who has since moved with his family to a 50 square metre apartment, tells Middle East Eye.
He says the demolition will cost his family 74,000 shekels ($21,200), which he is unable to pay. "I am frustrated and hopeless."
"My children ask me when are we going back home. They ask me why is Israel doing this to us? What can you say to them? I don't have the answers," his brother, Anas, tells MEE.
Um Abed Abu Eshah lives in the area with her husband and six children.
"We thought we would pay a fine and then get a permit for the house. We didn't expect that the whole neighbourhood would be struggling for decades," she tells MEE.
"We took this risk because there is no way of getting a permit [...] and for Palestinians, every day you step out of your house is a risk," she continued.
'Engineering a Jewish majority'
By Jan-Peter Westad in Wadi Yasul, Occupied East Jerusalem
Inhabitants of Wadi Yasul are latest victims of 'environmental' master plan to achieve demographic shift in East Jerusalem
On a hill just south of the Old City lies a 54-hectare thriving pine forest, located within the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan - one of occupied East Jerusalem's most ghettoized areas, owing to Israeli government and settler initiatives.
The park, named the "Peace Forest," is for many visitors a tourist attraction, promoted as a "natural treasure" in the wider Israeli City of David archaeological site open to the public.
The forest was created and named shortly after Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, by the Jewish National Fund, an organisation that financially supports illegal Jewish settlement projects targeting Palestinian neighbourhoods.
Since the 1970s, the area has been zoned by the Israeli government as "green," meaning construction there is prohibited.
In 1977, the government handed control of the City of David project to the El-Ad Jewish settlement group.
The area of Wadi Yasul in Silwan, housing over 500 residents, has been slated for demolition by Israeli authorities.
With nowhere to expand over the decades, the residents of Wadi Yasul have had to build without difficult-to-obtain Israeli permits, subjecting them to demolition orders and displacement.
'Every day you step out of your house is a risk'
Qusai and Anas Burqan built and lived with their families in the two homes, which were demolished two weeks after El-Ad received approval from various governmental institutions to develop commercial enterprises in the park.
The projects, supported through funding and land allocation by the Israeli Jerusalem Municipality, the Israel Land Authority and the Tourism Ministry, include a visitor centre, campgrounds and a zipline.
"They have destroyed all my chances to live a modest life," father-of-three Qusai Burqan, who has since moved with his family to a 50 square metre apartment, tells Middle East Eye.
He says the demolition will cost his family 74,000 shekels ($21,200), which he is unable to pay. "I am frustrated and hopeless."
"My children ask me when are we going back home. They ask me why is Israel doing this to us? What can you say to them? I don't have the answers," his brother, Anas, tells MEE.
Um Abed Abu Eshah lives in the area with her husband and six children.
"We thought we would pay a fine and then get a permit for the house. We didn't expect that the whole neighbourhood would be struggling for decades," she tells MEE.
"We took this risk because there is no way of getting a permit [...] and for Palestinians, every day you step out of your house is a risk," she continued.
'Engineering a Jewish majority'
Adel Jabori, a resident of Wadi Yasul, says the ultimate aim it to uproot the Palestinians, their buildings, trees and families
Since 1967, the Jerusalem Municipality has designated vast areas of annexed Palestinian territory as green spaces and national parks where building is not permitted.
Only 13 percent of land in occupied East Jerusalem is zoned for Palestinian development, most of which is already built on.
Meanwhile, some 83 percent is designated for state and settler use.
As a result, the poverty-stricken Palestinian population of the city suffers from severe overcrowding and is forced to build illegally.
"Planning policies in East Jerusalem do not meet people's housing and infrastructure need," the humanitarian coordinator at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Jamie McGoldrick, told MEE.
"At least a third of Palestinian homes are unlicensed, and more than 100,000 people are potentially at risk of demolition and displacement."
As of July, a total of 126 structures had been demolished in 2019, displacing 203 Palestinians.
"Engineering a Jewish majority in Jerusalem by driving Palestinian East Jerusalemites out of the city has been Israeli policy since the 1967 occupation began," Amit Gilutz, spokesperson for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, told MEE.
"Israel has made it all but impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits.
"Left with no other option, Palestinians build illegally, which then prompts Israel to issue demolition orders and in numerous cases demolish their homes," he said.
'Tool for achieving demographic goals'
Some 29 percent of the planned area in East Jerusalem has been designated "open/green areas," intertwined with Israeli Jewish-only settlements, many in the heart of Palestinian neighbourhoods.
The government-sponsored expansions and development of settlements aims to fulfil the goal of maintaining a Jewish majority in the city, as articulated in several Jerusalem Municipality city plans.
MEE contacted the Municipality of Jerusalem's city planning department for comment but received no response.
Sari Kronish, an architect for the organisation Bimkom, which supports planning rights for Palestinians, believes there is an unparalleled increase in the designation of Palestinian land in East Jerusalem as national parks.
"This is clearly a tool for achieving demographic goals. What has perhaps been more covert in the past is becoming more and more overt," she tells MEE.
'We feel humiliated'
In 2014, the UN secretary-general wrote in a report that "archaeological excavations and parks are also used as a way to control land for settlements, mainly through the funding, participation and endorsement by the Government of Israel of archaeological projects led by settler organisations".
"Observer organisations report that several archaeological projects in the Old City of Jerusalem are being used as a means to consolidate the presence of settlements and settlers in the area."
Adel Jabori, a resident of Wadi Yasul, says the ultimate aim is to uproot the Palestinians, their buildings, trees and families.
"We feel humiliated, and the situation is only getting worse," the 69-year-old told MEE.
Adel was one of many residents displaced from his home in the Old City in 1967.
With the increasing pressure on neighbourhoods like Wadi Yasul, it seems only a matter of time before history repeats itself.
Since 1967, the Jerusalem Municipality has designated vast areas of annexed Palestinian territory as green spaces and national parks where building is not permitted.
Only 13 percent of land in occupied East Jerusalem is zoned for Palestinian development, most of which is already built on.
Meanwhile, some 83 percent is designated for state and settler use.
As a result, the poverty-stricken Palestinian population of the city suffers from severe overcrowding and is forced to build illegally.
"Planning policies in East Jerusalem do not meet people's housing and infrastructure need," the humanitarian coordinator at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Jamie McGoldrick, told MEE.
"At least a third of Palestinian homes are unlicensed, and more than 100,000 people are potentially at risk of demolition and displacement."
As of July, a total of 126 structures had been demolished in 2019, displacing 203 Palestinians.
"Engineering a Jewish majority in Jerusalem by driving Palestinian East Jerusalemites out of the city has been Israeli policy since the 1967 occupation began," Amit Gilutz, spokesperson for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, told MEE.
"Israel has made it all but impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits.
"Left with no other option, Palestinians build illegally, which then prompts Israel to issue demolition orders and in numerous cases demolish their homes," he said.
'Tool for achieving demographic goals'
Some 29 percent of the planned area in East Jerusalem has been designated "open/green areas," intertwined with Israeli Jewish-only settlements, many in the heart of Palestinian neighbourhoods.
The government-sponsored expansions and development of settlements aims to fulfil the goal of maintaining a Jewish majority in the city, as articulated in several Jerusalem Municipality city plans.
MEE contacted the Municipality of Jerusalem's city planning department for comment but received no response.
Sari Kronish, an architect for the organisation Bimkom, which supports planning rights for Palestinians, believes there is an unparalleled increase in the designation of Palestinian land in East Jerusalem as national parks.
"This is clearly a tool for achieving demographic goals. What has perhaps been more covert in the past is becoming more and more overt," she tells MEE.
'We feel humiliated'
In 2014, the UN secretary-general wrote in a report that "archaeological excavations and parks are also used as a way to control land for settlements, mainly through the funding, participation and endorsement by the Government of Israel of archaeological projects led by settler organisations".
"Observer organisations report that several archaeological projects in the Old City of Jerusalem are being used as a means to consolidate the presence of settlements and settlers in the area."
Adel Jabori, a resident of Wadi Yasul, says the ultimate aim is to uproot the Palestinians, their buildings, trees and families.
"We feel humiliated, and the situation is only getting worse," the 69-year-old told MEE.
Adel was one of many residents displaced from his home in the Old City in 1967.
With the increasing pressure on neighbourhoods like Wadi Yasul, it seems only a matter of time before history repeats itself.
6 aug 2019
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Monday evening arrested a Palestinian citizen and two of his sons and confiscated construction equipment used to build a new house belonging to him in Nahalin town, west of Bethlehem in the West Bank.
Nahalin mayor Hani Fanoun said the IOF stormed the town, stopped a local resident called Mohamed Shakarneh from completing construction works on his house and then rounded him up along with his two sons, four-year-old Qais and 17-year-old Kamal.
Fanoun added that the IOF confiscated two concrete mixers and a pump from the construction site and took ID cards from Palestinian truck drivers before forcing them to transfer the equipment to Gush Etzion settlement bloc.
He expressed his concern that the IOF would carry out an administrative demolition order against the house as recently happened in Wadi Rahhal village.
Nahalin mayor Hani Fanoun said the IOF stormed the town, stopped a local resident called Mohamed Shakarneh from completing construction works on his house and then rounded him up along with his two sons, four-year-old Qais and 17-year-old Kamal.
Fanoun added that the IOF confiscated two concrete mixers and a pump from the construction site and took ID cards from Palestinian truck drivers before forcing them to transfer the equipment to Gush Etzion settlement bloc.
He expressed his concern that the IOF would carry out an administrative demolition order against the house as recently happened in Wadi Rahhal village.
1 aug 2019
For the fourth year in a row, and despite the urging of several leading human rights organizations and experts, including United Nations Special Rapporteurs, the United Nations has failed again to include Israel in its annual blacklist of armed forces that commit atrocities against youth, said Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), today.
“This failure is inexcusable, given Israel’s dismal human rights record and its documented abuses against Palestinian children, including the arbitrary detention of hundreds of children every year, its use of torture against them and other grave violations, including the deliberate killing and maiming of roughly 2,800 Palestinian children in 2018 alone.
Turning a blind eye to Israeli crimes and failing to apply such nominal standards of accountability emboldens the occupying power to escalate its flagrant violations, as documented and reported by human rights organizations,” she said in a statement, according to WAFA.
“In light of the international community’s abdication of its responsibilities vis-à-vis international law, it is no surprise that Israel continues to commit war crimes and violate international law and human rights on a daily basis with shameful impunity.
Additionally, the right-wing in Israel is exploiting the current US-Israeli partnership to create new facts on the ground with absolute disregard to international law and declared rejection of the internationally-endorsed requirements of peace, including Palestinian statehood.
This was clearly evident in the Israeli Cabinet’s farcical “approval” of Palestinian homes in so-called Area C in the occupied West Bank as a way to whitewash the construction of 6,000 new illegal settlement units on stolen Palestinian land.
In this regard, we reaffirm that all settlement construction in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, is illegal and constitutes a war crime under the Rome Statute. Israeli intransigence and American collusion cannot change this legal fact or set it aside.”
Ashrawi concluded by stressing that “the international community and its bodies have a legal and moral obligation to hold Israel accountable for its relentless criminality and rogue conduct, to preserve the standing and relevance of the international rules-based system, and to ensure that the Palestinian people enjoy their inalienable and absolute rights to self-determination and freedom.
“Peace and prosperity in the region will remain elusive so long as racist and colonial agendas that dismiss Palestinian rights are perpetuated by international inaction on the one hand and US collusion on the other.”
“This failure is inexcusable, given Israel’s dismal human rights record and its documented abuses against Palestinian children, including the arbitrary detention of hundreds of children every year, its use of torture against them and other grave violations, including the deliberate killing and maiming of roughly 2,800 Palestinian children in 2018 alone.
Turning a blind eye to Israeli crimes and failing to apply such nominal standards of accountability emboldens the occupying power to escalate its flagrant violations, as documented and reported by human rights organizations,” she said in a statement, according to WAFA.
“In light of the international community’s abdication of its responsibilities vis-à-vis international law, it is no surprise that Israel continues to commit war crimes and violate international law and human rights on a daily basis with shameful impunity.
Additionally, the right-wing in Israel is exploiting the current US-Israeli partnership to create new facts on the ground with absolute disregard to international law and declared rejection of the internationally-endorsed requirements of peace, including Palestinian statehood.
This was clearly evident in the Israeli Cabinet’s farcical “approval” of Palestinian homes in so-called Area C in the occupied West Bank as a way to whitewash the construction of 6,000 new illegal settlement units on stolen Palestinian land.
In this regard, we reaffirm that all settlement construction in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, is illegal and constitutes a war crime under the Rome Statute. Israeli intransigence and American collusion cannot change this legal fact or set it aside.”
Ashrawi concluded by stressing that “the international community and its bodies have a legal and moral obligation to hold Israel accountable for its relentless criminality and rogue conduct, to preserve the standing and relevance of the international rules-based system, and to ensure that the Palestinian people enjoy their inalienable and absolute rights to self-determination and freedom.
“Peace and prosperity in the region will remain elusive so long as racist and colonial agendas that dismiss Palestinian rights are perpetuated by international inaction on the one hand and US collusion on the other.”
31 july 2019
Israel's Security Cabinet on Wednesday approved a new plan to build 6,000 housing units in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
In another context, the Security Cabinet on Tuesday decided to allow the Palestinians to build 715 housing units in Area C, which covers about 60% of the West Bank area and is exclusively administered by Israel.
Israeli media sources said that the decision came a few days ahead of a scheduled visit by Jared Kushner, the US president's senior advisor, to Israel and a number of Arab countries.
Israel in the past years has stepped up its settlement construction activity in Area C. Meanwhile, dozens of Palestinian homes and buildings have been demolished under the pretext of being unlicensed.
In another context, the Security Cabinet on Tuesday decided to allow the Palestinians to build 715 housing units in Area C, which covers about 60% of the West Bank area and is exclusively administered by Israel.
Israeli media sources said that the decision came a few days ahead of a scheduled visit by Jared Kushner, the US president's senior advisor, to Israel and a number of Arab countries.
Israel in the past years has stepped up its settlement construction activity in Area C. Meanwhile, dozens of Palestinian homes and buildings have been demolished under the pretext of being unlicensed.
Building in Area C of the occupied West Bank is a Palestinian right and not up for exchange with illegal Israeli settlements, today said Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh reacting to the Israeli government decision to approve the construction of 715 housing units for Palestinians and 6,000 units in the illegal settlements in the Israeli-controlled Area C as classified by the 1993 Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel.“Building on land classified as 'C’ is a right for Palestinians that is not up for exchange with settlements or to treat both as the same,” he said in a statement.
He said that the Oslo classification of land into A, B and C “no longer exists because Israel has violated and terminated the interim Oslo agreement.”
Shtayyeh insisted that “we do not need permission from the occupying power to build our homes on our lands.”
He said that the Israeli government decision, which he described as pathetic, “is aimed at deceiving international public opinion, legitimizing the settlements and attempting to equate Palestinian construction on their lands with the colonial settlement construction that steals the land, the water and the air.”
He stressed that “the settlements are illegitimate and illegal and will end as they ended in many countries and our right to our land will prevail despite all these decisions."
He said that the Oslo classification of land into A, B and C “no longer exists because Israel has violated and terminated the interim Oslo agreement.”
Shtayyeh insisted that “we do not need permission from the occupying power to build our homes on our lands.”
He said that the Israeli government decision, which he described as pathetic, “is aimed at deceiving international public opinion, legitimizing the settlements and attempting to equate Palestinian construction on their lands with the colonial settlement construction that steals the land, the water and the air.”
He stressed that “the settlements are illegitimate and illegal and will end as they ended in many countries and our right to our land will prevail despite all these decisions."
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, said today that Palestinians have the right to build anywhere on their land without permission from anyone.
Reacting to reports that the Israeli government decided to allow the construction of 700 housing units for Palestinians and 6,000 units in the illegal Jewish settlements in the Israeli-controlled Area C of the occupied West Bank, Abu Rudeineh said in a statement, "The Palestinian people have the right to build on all of their land occupied in 1967 without the need for a permission from anyone.
We will not give any legitimacy to the construction of a single stone in the settlements on our land."
Abu Rudeineh said the Palestinians “will not barter our rights guaranteed by the resolutions of international legitimacy, which, in particular UN resolution 2334, declared the illegality of the settlements in the territory of the State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem.”
He concluded by saying that “the Palestinian people will remain steadfast in their land and will not accept compromises on their national constants, especially Jerusalem and its holy sites and the establishment of their independent Palestinian state on all their national soil.”
Reacting to reports that the Israeli government decided to allow the construction of 700 housing units for Palestinians and 6,000 units in the illegal Jewish settlements in the Israeli-controlled Area C of the occupied West Bank, Abu Rudeineh said in a statement, "The Palestinian people have the right to build on all of their land occupied in 1967 without the need for a permission from anyone.
We will not give any legitimacy to the construction of a single stone in the settlements on our land."
Abu Rudeineh said the Palestinians “will not barter our rights guaranteed by the resolutions of international legitimacy, which, in particular UN resolution 2334, declared the illegality of the settlements in the territory of the State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem.”
He concluded by saying that “the Palestinian people will remain steadfast in their land and will not accept compromises on their national constants, especially Jerusalem and its holy sites and the establishment of their independent Palestinian state on all their national soil.”
29 july 2019
The National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements said in his latest weekly report , that the Israeli occupation authorities continue the policy of ethnic cleansing and demolishing houses of Palestinians, especially in Jerusalem and its surroundings, ignoring all warnings issued by the UN, international groups and human rights organizations covered by the high court, demolished 100 apartments in Wadi Al-Homs being close to the Annexation Wall.
Worth mentioning here that the ICJ legal opinion issued on July 9th, 2004 affirmed that Israel violates the International Law and called for the removal of the wall as well as repairing damages of official and public institutions and departments, including village and municipal councils.
The buildings in question that were demolished owned by Ghaleb Abu Hadwan, Ali Hamadeh, Na’im Muslim, Ala ‘Amira, Akram Zawahra, Bilal Al-Kiswani, Rafat Obaidat, Jafar Abu Humaid, Tariq Al-ahamid and Moh’d Idris Abu Tair.
It should be noted that this area, which has been demolished by the Israeli occupation authorities fall within the areas A, taking into account that the buildings have obtained all the necessary permits, with an area estimated by 300 donums.
On the other hand, the demolition was met with widespread condemnation by humanitarian officials, Jamie McGoldrick, UNRWA Director of West Bank, Gwyn Lewis and the head of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, James Henin, they asserted that Israel’s actions violated international humanitarian law, and that the policy pursued by Israel in the destruction of Palestinian property is not in line with the obligations imposed by international humanitarian law, especially the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949.
With the endless US support for the occupation government and the settlers, the USA prevented an attempt by Kuwait, Indonesia and South Africa to issue a statement from the UN Security Council condemning the demolition of Palestinian homes.
On the other hand, the National Bureau welcomed McGoldrick, Lewis, Henin, Lenk and EU missions stances, which condemned the policy of demolishing Palestinian homes, and called on Israel to respect its obligations considering it as the occupying power.
The international community called on the ICC to invite General Prosecutor, Fatu Bensuda to refer the crimes of the demolition of Palestinian homes and crimes of ethnic cleansing to the judicial branch of the court as well as opening an immediate investigation. Within the same context, it warned Israel of demolishing Al-Khan Al-Ahmar village before the Knesset elections, which will be held on Sep. 17th.
Last week, the settler movement” Regaim” published large ads in the newspapers, under the headline “State of Terror Behind the Curve,” claiming that the Palestinians built 28651 new buildings in area C, which is under Israeli control according to Oslo Accord. The “Regaim” movement is calling on ministers and Knesset members to begin working immediately to prevent the establishment of a terrorists state.
Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman said that Al-Khan Al-Ahmmar is “an indication of Palestinian Authority’s control of the state’s land. On July 10, Netanyahu stated that Israel under his leadership will not repeat the mistakes of the past. “
Since 2017, the Israeli occupation authorities have facilitated the construction of about 16 new settlement outposts scattered throughout the West Bank, from the southern Hebron hills to the northern Jordan Valley, in the Gush Etzion settlement blocs between Bethlehem and Hebron, and from Matei Binyamin from Jerusalem to Ariel settlement on Salfit lands. Construction is being carried out on land that the occupation considered as “state land”, although decisions have been issued to demolish some of them, but not implemented.
The Peace Now Movement conducted a survey of 16 settlement outposts, noting that since 2012, 31 new illegal outposts have been established, including 21 farms that occupy large areas for grazing cattles. Fifteen outposts were also legitimized and turned into settlements or neighborhoods in existing settlements. In the meantime, the occupation authorities are legitimizing 35 settlement outposts.
Within the context of supporting the Israeli judiciary in general and the settlers in particular, the Judge of the Israeli Lod Court attempted to put pressure on the Israeli Attorney General’s Office to amend the indictment against a settler involved in the burning and murder of Dawabsha family in Duma, Nablus, at the end of July 2015.
Worth mentioning here that the ICJ legal opinion issued on July 9th, 2004 affirmed that Israel violates the International Law and called for the removal of the wall as well as repairing damages of official and public institutions and departments, including village and municipal councils.
The buildings in question that were demolished owned by Ghaleb Abu Hadwan, Ali Hamadeh, Na’im Muslim, Ala ‘Amira, Akram Zawahra, Bilal Al-Kiswani, Rafat Obaidat, Jafar Abu Humaid, Tariq Al-ahamid and Moh’d Idris Abu Tair.
It should be noted that this area, which has been demolished by the Israeli occupation authorities fall within the areas A, taking into account that the buildings have obtained all the necessary permits, with an area estimated by 300 donums.
On the other hand, the demolition was met with widespread condemnation by humanitarian officials, Jamie McGoldrick, UNRWA Director of West Bank, Gwyn Lewis and the head of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, James Henin, they asserted that Israel’s actions violated international humanitarian law, and that the policy pursued by Israel in the destruction of Palestinian property is not in line with the obligations imposed by international humanitarian law, especially the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949.
With the endless US support for the occupation government and the settlers, the USA prevented an attempt by Kuwait, Indonesia and South Africa to issue a statement from the UN Security Council condemning the demolition of Palestinian homes.
On the other hand, the National Bureau welcomed McGoldrick, Lewis, Henin, Lenk and EU missions stances, which condemned the policy of demolishing Palestinian homes, and called on Israel to respect its obligations considering it as the occupying power.
The international community called on the ICC to invite General Prosecutor, Fatu Bensuda to refer the crimes of the demolition of Palestinian homes and crimes of ethnic cleansing to the judicial branch of the court as well as opening an immediate investigation. Within the same context, it warned Israel of demolishing Al-Khan Al-Ahmar village before the Knesset elections, which will be held on Sep. 17th.
Last week, the settler movement” Regaim” published large ads in the newspapers, under the headline “State of Terror Behind the Curve,” claiming that the Palestinians built 28651 new buildings in area C, which is under Israeli control according to Oslo Accord. The “Regaim” movement is calling on ministers and Knesset members to begin working immediately to prevent the establishment of a terrorists state.
Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman said that Al-Khan Al-Ahmmar is “an indication of Palestinian Authority’s control of the state’s land. On July 10, Netanyahu stated that Israel under his leadership will not repeat the mistakes of the past. “
Since 2017, the Israeli occupation authorities have facilitated the construction of about 16 new settlement outposts scattered throughout the West Bank, from the southern Hebron hills to the northern Jordan Valley, in the Gush Etzion settlement blocs between Bethlehem and Hebron, and from Matei Binyamin from Jerusalem to Ariel settlement on Salfit lands. Construction is being carried out on land that the occupation considered as “state land”, although decisions have been issued to demolish some of them, but not implemented.
The Peace Now Movement conducted a survey of 16 settlement outposts, noting that since 2012, 31 new illegal outposts have been established, including 21 farms that occupy large areas for grazing cattles. Fifteen outposts were also legitimized and turned into settlements or neighborhoods in existing settlements. In the meantime, the occupation authorities are legitimizing 35 settlement outposts.
Within the context of supporting the Israeli judiciary in general and the settlers in particular, the Judge of the Israeli Lod Court attempted to put pressure on the Israeli Attorney General’s Office to amend the indictment against a settler involved in the burning and murder of Dawabsha family in Duma, Nablus, at the end of July 2015.
