Israel seizes large tracts of land in West Bank
Israel has seized a large piece of land in the occupied West Bank, a report says, as the regime in Tel Aviv continues to defy international calls to stop its expansionist policy in the Palestinian territories.
Israeli Army Radio said on Tuesday that the confiscated land is about 579 acres (234 hectares) and is located near the Dead Sea and the city of Jericho.
A campaigning group based in the occupied territories said the appropriation is the largest land confiscation in the West Bank in recent years. The Peace Now movement, which opposes Israel’s building of settlements, said Tel Aviv plans to expand settlements and build tourism and other commercial facilities in the area.
The Palestinian Authority, which rules the occupied West Bank, issued a statement Tuesday calling on the international community to press Israel to stop land confiscations.
The office of Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Moshe Yaalon declined to comment on the issue. However, the Palestine Liberation Organization tweeted photos of a de facto Israeli confiscation notice which contained a Hebrew map and some other documents showing that the area has been declared as Israel’s property. The documents, dated March 10, had the signature of an Israeli official.
Governments and organizations have time and again condemned Israel’s settlement activity in the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem), which Israel occupied in 1967, calling it illegal and a major obstacle in the way to reach peace.
Israel has denied calls for abandoning the settlement activity, saying it will keep the lands it has captured in any potential peace deal with the Palestinians. That obstinate demand has undermined years of efforts for hammering out a peace agreement between the two sides.
The last time Israel seized tracts of land in the West Bank was in August 2014, when an area of more than 380 acres (154 hectares) located near the Dead Sea was declared Tel Aviv’s property. The move drew huge international condemnation at the time.
The fresh land appropriation could also cause serious problems for the Israelis as they are struggling to contain a new Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and East al-Quds. Nearly 200 Palestinians have been killed since clashes erupted in those areas in early October 2015. The surge of violence came over some covert plans by Tel Aviv to change the status quo of a holy Palestinian mosque.
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