Occupation seizes hundreds of dunums in Ramallah

2024-07-17 06:00:09

(MENAFN) On Tuesday, Israeli occupation forces seized 441 dunums of land in the Ramallah area to facilitate the expansion of settlements. The Civil Administration of the occupation announced that the confiscated lands, located near the settlements of "Nili" and "Ni'ala" west of Ramallah, have been reclassified as "state land."

According to the Civil Administration, this land grab aims to legalize the construction of new housing units in the "Nili" settlement and an industrial zone in the "Ni'ala" settlement, as well as support the expansion of other settlements in the area.

Previously, on July 2, the Civil Administration announced the completion of procedures to confiscate 24,000 dunums in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank. These lands were also reclassified as "state land," with occupation authorities claiming they are "public lands that do not belong to anyone," thereby paving the way for settlement projects.

The reclassification of Palestinian lands as "state territory" has been conducted in three stages. During the previous government led by Naftali Bennett, 3,500 dunums were legalized. Four months ago, an additional 8,500 dunums were reclassified. At the beginning of this month, another 12,000 dunums were reclassified as well.

The Supreme Planning Council of the Civil Administration is expected to approve the construction of 5,300 settlement housing units in this area. Additionally, about 600 other housing units are slated to be marketed in different areas of the West Bank. This includes 152 housing units in the "Nigohot" settlement in Hebron, 260 housing units in Jordan Valley settlements, 140 housing units in the "Kiryat Arba" settlement, and 186 housing units in the "Elon Moreh" settlement near Nablus.

Hebrew media sources indicate that Bezalel Smotrich, the Finance Minister in the Defense Ministry responsible for settlements, aims to "prevent Palestinian geographic contiguity on one hand and establish Jewish settlement contiguity on the other."

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