'Israel' discriminates between north settlements on evacuation funds

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Al Mayadeen
20 Oct 2023 10:32
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Israeli settlements in south occupied Palestinian are feeling desperation and abandoned by their army and government.

UNIFIL patrol the border wall with north occupied Palestine painted with a view of al-Quds seen from within a broken wall along with a portrait of martyred Hezbollah commander Imad Moghniyeh, in Lebanon's southern town of Kfar Kila on October 9, 2023 (AFP)

The Israeli occupation army issued an evacuation order for settlers residing in the "Qiryat Shemona" settlement, which is located around 2km away from the Palestinian-Lebanese borders, as Hezbollah intensifies operations in response to Israeli continued violations against Lebanon's sovereignty and security and in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

In a statement, the "National Emergency Authority (NEA)" in the entity's Security Ministry and army "announced the implementation of a plan to evacuate the residents of Qiryat Shemona," which are around 20,000, to "guesthouses" funded by the government.

Additionally, the occupation army added that the command in the northern region conveyed the decision to the settlement's mayor, who will take part in the execution phase.

But this announcement infuriated nearby settlements that, in contrast to "Qiryat Shemona", had to evacuate at their own expense.

Commenting on the army's statement, the head of the Upper al-Jalil Council - with only 5% percent of its settlers remaining - said in protest that while carrying out this measure at the expense of the government "is good", thousands of settlers from other areas had to fund their own evacuation.

"The Israeli army asked us to make every possible effort to evacuate whoever can be evacuated from the residents in the settlements of the Upper Galilee up to a distance of 4 km, and we did that," he said.

"Today there are hundreds, or even thousands of families that have been evacuated and are present in hotels, at their own expense... wondering: what do these people do while they stay in hotels at their own expense without any budget allocated to them in the government? What do we tell them now? Return to the settlements to get money, and to be evacuated at the expense of the state."

The condition of Israeli settlers in southern occupied Palestine is not any better.

According to Israeli media, settlers in "Ashkelon" settlement near Gaza are frustrated due to the fact that almost one-third of their settler units are left unprotected by the Israeli army. A feeling of desperation is spread among settlers, who now believe that their government does not care about sending forces to guard them, the media added.

In response to the Israeli crime of forcible displacing the Palestinian people in Gaza and forcing them to evacuate their homes due to the nonstop brutal Israeli bombings, Hamas' al-Qassam addressed settlers of "Ashkelon" last week, warning them that they must evacuate immediately as the Resistance decided it will focus its hits on the settlement until it's emptied.

Al-Qassam Brigades Spokesperson Abu Obeida concluded that: "those warned have no excuse."

Earlier this week, Israeli military spokesperson Jonathan Conricus announced that around 500,000 Israeli settlers had to evacuate their settlements, since the beginning of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7. This was followed by an order issued by the IOF for settlers within 5km of the Lebanese borders to evacuate, which amounts to 28 settlements.