'Israel' orders stealing land in Beit Lahm for settlement expansion

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
17 Nov 2022 14:34
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The Israeli occupation issues an order to seize around 320 dunams of land in the West Bank to expand the illegal settlements of "Daniel", "Eliezer", and "Efrat".

There are currently over 230 illegal settlements since "Israel" occupied the West Bank and Al-Quds in 1967 (AFP)

The Israeli occupation government issued on Wednesday an order to loot around 320 dunams (230,000 square meters) of land in Beit Lahm in the southern occupied West Bank to expand its illegal settlements on Palestinian land, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Wafa cited Hasan Brijiyeh, an anti-settlement and anti-apartheid activist in Beit Lahm, as saying that the Israeli occupation forces delivered a military order to seize around 320 dunams of land in the areas of Al-Khader, Nahalin, and Artas in the city in order to expand the illegal settlements of "Daniel", "Eliezer", and "Efrat", in violation of the international law and United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

According to the news agency, the Israeli occupation order will come into effect within 30 days from the date of the decision.

In October, Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian activist who monitors Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank, indicated that Israeli occupation authorities were planning to steal some 616 dunams (616,000 square meters) of Palestinian-owned land in Qaryout, Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya, and As-Sawiya in favor of the expansion of the illegal settlement of "Eli", completely disregarding the UNSC Resolution 2334, which considered illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and Al-Quds as "a flagrant violation under international law."

The European Union had previously stated that it does not recognize Israeli authority over the West Bank, noting that "Israel's" settlement expansion is a dangerous breach of international law.

It is noteworthy that there are currently over 230 illegal settlements since "Israel" occupied the West Bank and Al-Quds in 1967.

In late March, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics pointed out that in the year 2021, Palestinians witnessed a significant increase in the construction and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, as it was approved to build more than 12,000 colonial units, including about 9,000 on the lands of Qalandia Airport.

According to the bureau, the Israeli occupation authorities demolished 1,058 Palestinian buildings, including 353 housing units and 705 facilities for various uses.