Bethlehem/PNN/ By: Madeeha Al-A’raj The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report, that occupied Jerusalem witnesses continuous Judaization schemes carried out by the Israeli occupation government, the municipality of Moshe Leon and the Settlement Associations, and the complicity of the Israeli judiciary aiming to uproot the Palestinian presence in the city, through settlement plans, waging war on Jerusalemites, and expanding the silent-forced displacement them.
So, it is clear that the new year doesn’t differ from previous years with regard to the plans of Judaization and ethnic cleansing in and around the city of Jerusalem that prompted by the Israeli PM, Naftali Bennett, and Mayor Moshe Leon, to bring about wide changes in the demographic features of the city, thus, they began to step-up drawing parameters of Judaization, as the so-called “Local Planning and Building Committee” of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem approved 5 new plans to build 3,557 settlement units in the occupied city, a step on the way to discuss plans and approve them in the “District Building and Organization Committee” on Jan. 17.
One of the construction plan's concerns is to build new settlement units between “Har Homa and Givat Hamatos,” another plan is on the edge of the French Hill. The most dangerous of these plans are concentrated in the southern area of Jerusalem, starting from the Beit Safafa town to the Sur Baher town and Jabal Abu Ghneim; The plans include the establishment of a new settlement neighborhood, which includes the construction of 1,465 settlement units near Givat Hamatos and the Har Homa-Jabal Abu Ghneim Neighborhood south of Jerusalem.
The plans also include the establishment of 2,092 housing units in the French Hill area in the center of Jerusalem in order to cut off the links between the Jerusalemite neighborhoods, specifically the Old City and the south and center of the city with its north, and to create a barrier between them targeting the southern region to seal it completely, as well as cutting communication between Bethlehem and southern Jerusalem, and to keep only narrow corridors and roads, rather than the separation and isolation schemes in the north where there is a comprehensive Israeli plan to establish a settlement belt, starting from the north of Jerusalem “Qalandiya”, all the way to the eastern region E1, and south of Beit Safafa to the Sur Baher town.
At the same time, the Finance Committee of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem approved allocating budgets for the construction of the first basic school in the new Givat Hamtous settlement that is built on the lands of the Beit Safafa town. It also allocated a plot of land to build 6 kindergartens on it. According to the decision of the Finance Committee, NIS 2,000,000 will be allocated for the construction of the school and NIS 781,000 for the construction of kindergartens, and the Moria Company of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem is to carry out those projects.
According to the approval of this budget, the company can publish bids for the implementation of new projects, especially after work began to develop the infrastructure for the establishment of the Givat Hamtos settlement after the so-called Israel Lands published bids and contractors won plots of land to build housing on it.
On the other hand, the occupation authorities continue to provide protection to the settlers and their attacks on the lands of Palestinian citizens, under the protection of the occupation army, they began building a settlement road in the “Al Sha’af” area in the lands of Ein Qassis in the lands of the Khader town, south of Bethlehem, leading to the settlement outpost “Sidi Boaz”.
The settlement street will pass through the middle of the lands estimated at about 40 dunums, which means more lands were stolen, knowing that a few days ago, they seized lands in the same area to erect iron gates that would isolate dozens of dunams and deprive citizens of access to them.
In a remarkable development, settlers are reviewing the forms of targeting Palestinian citizens and their attacks on them. Recent weeks have witnessed organized attacks and collective attacks by settlers in several areas of the West Bank, especially in the north and center of the West Bank, which resulted in many injuries and the death of Mrs. Ghadeer Masalma from Sinjil town north of Ramallah after a settler ran over her.
During the past week, Mustafa Yassin Filna, 25, from the village of Safa, west of Ramallah, was killed after being run over by a settler on his way to work in the 1948 lands. He was subsequently transferred to the hospital and deliberately ran over a flock of sheep on the road, engaged in orgies, and persecuted citizens.
As for Itamar Ben Gvir, an Israeli Knesset member from the Religious Zionism Party, called on the occupation forces to shoot Palestinian youths who throw stones at Israeli vehicles and buses. This came during Ben Gvir's arrival at the Hizma checkpoint in Jerusalem. Ben Gvir said, “We will not accept that, whoever throws a stone, shoot him.”
