The Israeli High Court of Justice ordered, on Thursday, the state prosecutor to explain why is the state rejecting to change the rout of the Separation Wall in Bil’in village, near Ramallah, since the current planned rout passes over lands which belong to the residents.
Israeli online daily Haaretz reported that the court gave the state three weeks to explain why the fence can’t be moved toward the Upper Modi’in settlement, in the west, so that it won’t pass over agricultural lands that belong to the residents of Bil’in.
According to Haaretz, the High Court issued the preliminary injunction after the residents petitioned it to change the route of the wall which is being constructed on Palestinian lands in the occupied territories.
Attorney, Michael Sfard, said in his petition to the High Court that Israel is constructing the Wall in order to annex more Palestinian lands and expand the Upper Modi’in settlement which is constructed on Palestinian annexed lands.
Also, lawyer Sfard told the court that the current route of the Wall is intended to allow the expansion of Matityahu East settlement, especially since illegal constructions, and a building plan, are currently underway in the settlement.
The Separation Wall annexed behind it thousands of Dunams which belong to the residents, and is barring them reaching a large proportion of what’s left of their orchards.
The Matityahu East illegal settlement includes 750 housing units, and 2000 units which are planned to be constructed on lands which belong to the residents of Bil’in.
Large areas of orchards were annexed using documents which have been forged.
