NABLUS, April 23, 2016 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation authorities Saturday notified the takeover of hundreds of dunums of land in the village of Jalood to the south of Nablus, as well as in the towns of Turmosayya and al-Mghayar to the north of Ramallah, to pave a new road that would serve illegal Israeli outposts and settlements, according to a local official.
Ghasan Daghles, in charge of the settlement file in the northern West Bank, informed WAFA, Israeli forces notified to seize hundreds of dunums of land in the aforementioned areas, citing military reasons as a pretext.
The notice also included a plan to open a road, designated for the sole use of Israelis, that would connect the illegal Israeli settlement of ‘Shiloh’ with other settlement outposts to the east.
The official said the opening of the road, measuring about six kilometers in total length, is a dangerous step that would lead to the creation of a large settlement entity in the area.
According to the Israeli anti-settlement group, Peace Now, “Over the years, Israel has used a number of legal and bureaucratic procedures in order to appropriate West Bank lands, with the primary objective of establishing settlements and providing land reserves for them.”
“Using primarily these five methods: seizure for military purposes; declaration of state lands; seizure of absentee property; confiscation for public needs; and initial registration, Israel has managed to take over about 50% of the lands in the West Bank, barring the local Palestinian public from using them.”
T.R.
