In a blatantly strategical move, a group of Israeli settlers led by mayor of the illegal Ma’ale Adumim settlement, Benny Kashriel, have set up a tent in Area E1, between the settlement and Jerusalem.Mayor Kashriel has requested that Israeli authorities build new settlement units in the area, in response to the deaths of the three Israeli settlers, the Palestinian News Network has reported.
Construction in E1 is very controversial, according to the PNN, as the construction of settlements in this region will create a physical link between Ma’ale Adumim and Jerusalem, dividing East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and its Palestinian population centers.
Additionally, such a move would divide the West Bank into two distinct parts, further jeopardizing any prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state.
Israeli right-wing women’s group, Women in Green, have also set up a tent, in an attempt to pressure authorities into building new settlements in the area between what is known as Jeba’at Auz and Gush Etzion, north Hebron.
According to B’Tselem, over 300,000 Israelis currently live in more than 200 settlements and settlement outposts throughout the West Bank — all established in contravention of international law, some even in contravention of Israeli law.
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