Bethlehem/PNN/ report by: Madeeha Al-A’raj

The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report, that Israeli security officials described the Israeli Gov’t as creating a state of security chaos, due to its failure of holding settlement security officers accountable for their violations against the Palestinians in the settlements being responsible for security in the settlements, as their salaries are paid by the Ministry of Security, and the Israeli army provides them with weapons and security vehicles to arrest Palestinians, as well as they affiliated to the Israeli Army that gives them a very wide power to arresting Palestinians, detaining, searching, or confiscating their properties.

Moreover, n 2009, their powers were expanded to work outside the settlements, and to carry out attacks against Palestinians, for example, the attacks that took place in the Janiya village in 2019, as a settlement officer named, Jacob Elharar from the “Talmon settlement” stormed it, and opened fire at a Palestinian citizen at a barbershop, and arrested, and handed him over to the army.

Last June, the settlement security officer at the “Yitzhar settlement”, south of Nablus, opened fire at a Palestinian near the settlement. Moreover, the Rotem settlement’s security officers expelled the Palestinian shepherds and dealt violently with Israeli left-wing activists who oppose settlements and the settlers' practices.

On the other hand, the Local Committee for Planning and Building at the Occupation Municipality in Jerusalem approved a plan to establish a new settlement neighborhood west of Sur Baher, comprising 1,215 housing units, a 28-story tower, and 11 residential complexes between 7 and 11 floors. In addition, 6 residential plots towards the main road in the neighborhood is provided, 1 section for open public spaces adjacent to buildings with open public space, and 9 plots for public buildings and institutions, which include a post-primary school, primary school, kindergarten, and gymnast in.

For his part, the Occupation Mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Leon said, “We continue to build in Jerusalem. The construction of the housing complex south of Ramat Rachel is part of the municipality's policy to increase the supply of housing in the city, by building in vacant areas and enhancing urban renewal.”

In the West Bank, violations and attacks against Palestinian citizens and their lands continue, in clear harmony between settlers and occupation soldiers. Thus settlers have begun to establish a new outpost in the lands of Burin village, southwest of Nablus, as an extension of the “Yitzhar” settlement, which is built on the lands of the village and a number of neighboring villages. Citizens of the village said that in recent days the settlers have installed a number of caravans on 50 dunums there.

Knowing that the Civil Administration in partnership with the “Samaria Regional Settlement Council” has provided various facilities for settlers to organize an off-road motorcycle championship in the northern West Bank with the aim of encouraging settlement.

The competition was held for the first time in the so-called Shahak Industrial Zone near the Shaked settlement in the northern West Bank, with about 140 competitors participating. The head of the far-right Samaria settlement council, Yossi Dagan, expressed his hope that holding such race there will become a tradition for many more years, especially since Samaria, according to him is located in the heart of Israel historically and geographically, and it should be a cultural and tourist center, as it belongs to all Israelis.

In a reprehensible move, the occupation army organized a full-day tour last week for US army officers to the Al-Ibrahimi Mosque and other places in the West Bank city of Hebron, led by the office of Israeli Major General Yehuda Fuchs, was led by far-right settlement spokesman Noam Arnon.