CAIRO, JUNE 15, 2017 (WAFA) - The Arab League Thursday said Israel continues its repressive measures and grave violations of the Palestinian people and in violation of international law.      

In its report on Israel’s violations in May 2017, the Arab League said Israel arrested more than 370 Palestinians, including 50 children.

“The detention of Palestinian children has increased in a dangerous and unprecedented rate during the years 2015-2016.”

Israeli authorities also razed approximately 100 dunums in Salifit and seized 9858 dunums in Jenin.         

Construction work continued outside the settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank, the report pointed out, especially in major Israeli settlements such as Gush Etzion in the southern West Bank, Ariel, and Ma‘aleh Adumim, east of occupied Jerusalem.  

According to the report, the Israeli Knesset ratified the so-called "national law", which aims to erase the Palestinian identity.

Israel continued to forcibly displace Palestinians in East Jerusalem and impose a blockade on the Gaza Strip of the 11th year in a row. 

According to the non-governmental Israeli Macro Center for Political Economics, Israel has spent more than $ 20 billion on the construction and expansion of West Bank settlements, and Jerusalem since 1967.

The report pointed out that that there are 600,000 settlers, including 400 thousand settlers in the West Bank, with their presence being a source of tensions with 2.6 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

"That is why the Israeli government supported the construction of settlements in East Jerusalem. It wanted to use the city as a demographic barrier and isolate it from the Palestinian surroundings and consequently be fully in control of the city.”

The Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now reported on bids and settlement plans that have been put forward for the year 2017. It said the percentage is three times larger than what was offered in 2016 of around 2,699 settlement units.

The report noted that the Gaza Strip has been severely, leading to an 80% increase in poverty due to the deterioration of economy and the worsening humanitarian crises.

According to the World‘s Bank 2016 report, unemployment rates in the Gaza Strip has jumped to 41.7%, the highest in the world.

The report stated that Israel has resumed the construction of the separation wall around the village of al Walaja, south of occupied East Jerusalem, which will surround the village from all sides and completely isolate it from its geographical contiguity with its Palestinian.

A.D/M.H