RAMALLAH, Wednesday, November 23, 2022 (WAFA) – The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said today that the Israeli occupation authorities issued today permission to make plans for lands near Salfit, which were seized by declaring them “state lands.”
The Commission said in a press release that the so-called Civil Administration, an arm of the Israeli military occupation, granted planning and usage permissions for lands from the villages of Bidya and Kufr al-Dik in Salfit Governorate, with an area of more than 360 dunums, that were seized by declaring them “state lands” in 1984.
It said this step means Israel is proceeding to legitimize the illegal Tal Shahrit settlement outpost built in that area.
Last week, the Civil Administration granted similar permission for 320 dunums of lands in the villages of al-Khader, Nahalin, and Irtas in the Bethlehem Governorate in order to annex them to the illegal settlements of Daniel, Eliazar and Efrat, noting that these areas were declared as “state lands” in 2014.
In the middle of last month, the occupation authorities transferred approximately 616 dunums of land from the villages of Qaryout, al-Lubban, and al-Sawiya in the Nablus governorate in order to increase the area of Eli settlement.
The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said that these measures prove that Israel intends to control the Palestinian land under various pretexts, including legal and administrative steps, which are only a prelude to annexing these lands for settlement purposes.
Moayad Shaaban, head of the Commission, said that this measure aims to control the land and prevent the Palestinians from using these lands, adding that the occupation authorities first declared the land as state lands and then turn them into settlement projects.
He said that the Civil Administration granted three planning permissions for areas estimated at 1,300 dunums of West Bank lands in an effort to legitimize settlement outposts or to transfer them to expand the area of the existing settlements.
