Settlement expansion accelerate in West Bank

(MENAFN) Fawzi Rayan, like many residents of Qarawat Bani Hassan near Salfit in the northern West Bank, watches as settlement expansion accelerates on his land, specifically around the Kiryat Netivim settlement. The settlers are building new, more intensive structures while Palestinians like Rayan are denied basic rights to expand their homes or cultivate their land. This ongoing struggle for land ownership has persisted for decades. A recent military order signed by Avi Ballut, commander of the Israeli army's Central Command, paves the way for a new phase in settlement construction. For the first time, the order permits urban renewal in settlements through "intensive" construction, meaning an increase in the number of settlement units within a small area. This contrasts with previous single-unit constructions that spread over larger areas, with fewer settlers. Despite the order being new, the practice of intensive settlement construction was already being carried out in places like Netafim and other settlements in the West Bank.

Rayan, a 53-year-old Palestinian, watches with frustration as settlements like Netafim expand into areas historically owned by his village. The land, known by its old name "Tayyarat," and neighboring lands like "Abu Zweir" and "Khallet Abu Hadid," are all subject to ongoing construction, leaving Rayan and his family of 50 people unable to access or rebuild their land, even though they possess court rulings proving their ownership. The settlers, who initially built expensive single homes, have since moved to multi-unit buildings in the settlement. According to Ibrahim Assi, the mayor of Qarawat Bani Hassan, around six such buildings have been erected since 2019, despite no legal permits from the courts. Assi views this expansion as one of the most dangerous settlement operations, as it not only steals land but also leads to an increase in settlers’ presence, which may eventually require more Palestinian land to accommodate the growing settler population. The new form of settlement construction saves settlers high costs and places them in closer proximity, reinforcing their hold on the area and isolating Palestinian communities.

The growth of settlements like Netafim is particularly concerning as it threatens to link the settlement to nearby ones, including Barkan, creating a "settler belt" that would encircle and isolate 40,000 Palestinians in villages west of Salfit. The village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, with its 9,500 dunams of land, is severely restricted by the occupation's control. About 200 dunams of its land have already been taken by the Netafim settlement, and other settlements continue to encircle the village, with the Israeli authorities refusing to approve any expansion of the village’s organizational plan. According to Israel Hayom, new urban development projects are expected to soon be launched in the West Bank, focusing on dense, "saturated" construction in settlements. These projects aim to increase the number of housing units per dunum, further accelerating settlement expansion and increasing the settler population in these contested areasز

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