Bethlehem/PNN/ Madeeha Al-A’raj

The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements ( nbprs ) stated in its latest weekly report, that Israeli Gov’t Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit ends his term in office by a decision that serves the Israeli aggressive and expansionist policy of confiscating more Palestinian lands, as he approved a plan to establish “Avitar outpost” on Jabal Sabeeh (Sabeeh Mountain) that belongs to the villages of Beita, Yatma, and Qabalan in the Nablus Governorate, the place where 9 Palestinian citizens were killed so far defending their lands.

Moreover, the Israeli PM Naftali Bennett, SM Benny Gantz, and IM Ayelet Shaked also push the plan forward to convert the Avitar outpost to a settlement. Knowing that the settlers in that outpost have agreed on last July with the Israeli government to evacuate the outpost and keep the buildings they set up in it until the ownership of the lands in the area is checked. Although the eviction was not implemented, the “Israeli Civil Administration” claimed last Oct. that it had conducted a survey of the lands on which the outpost is built and said 60 dunums of the lands are “state lands” which means an outpost can be built.

On the other hand, the Israeli District Planning and Building Committee, headed by Amir Shaked approved 3 settlement plans in Jerusalem, in the Gilo, Kiryat Yuval, and Goneim settlements. The “Gilo’s plan” on an area of 11 dunums in the “Rehovot complex”, which includes the construction of 400 housing units in 2 towers of 30 floors and a building of 9 floors, public buildings, commercial spaces, and 1.5 dunums for open public spaces.

The “ Karbat Yuval settlement’s plan on an area of 4.5 dunums, which includes the construction of 140 settlement units in 2 buildings, the first consisting of 10 floors and the second of 11 floors. Kiryat Yuval’s plan includes commercial areas, public buildings, and kindergarten as well as nursery.

As for the Goneim settlement’s plan southwest of Jerusalem, on a total area of about 40 dunums, which includes 1080 housing units, in a sequential form that will be built in 12 buildings from 6 to 31 floors, and among all the housing units about 316 units will be allocated to small apartments. The plan in the Goneim neighborhood includes about 2,500 square meters for trade and employment, 2,200 square meters for public buildings for kindergartens and daycare centers, and a synagogue.

In Jerusalem, the District Planning and Building Committee approved the deposit of a plan to build 900 settlement units for Jewish students on the French Hill settlement next to the Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital on the Issawiya village’s lands. This is the fifth settlement project in the French Hill settlement that has been approved since the beginning of this year on more than 150 dunums, with the replacement of 170 university housing rooms for Jewish students and raising it to 900 new ones.

In the outskirts of the French Hill settlement, the plan covers a total area of about 24 dunums, and guarantees the construction of 15 new student housing buildings, including a mini-market, a café, a gym, a daycare center, kindergartens, common study rooms, and meeting rooms, to serve the Hebrew University, its students.

At the same time, the "Local Planning and Building Committee" at the occupation municipality approved last Wednesday a plan to double the area of "Hadassah Hospital - French Hill five times on a land area of 111 dunums of the Issawiya town's lands. According to the new plan, a 15-story tower, 7 new buildings, and a helipad will be built, as well as the preservation of the old historic building that was built during the British Mandate in 1930, and will be converted into a hotel and commercial center to serve the hospital and the "French Hill" settlement.

The plan requires approval from the District Committee at the Israeli Ministry of Interior for its implementation. It is known that the Hadassah French Hill hospital is built on the lands of Issawiya within the French Hill settlement, which was established in 1969, being a residential suburb within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem within the so-called ‘Greater Jerusalem’".

In Nablus, where confrontation escalated between Palestinian citizens, and settlers, who were protected by the occupation forces, while attempting to return to Homesh settlement, which was evacuated by Sharon’s government in the context of the disengagement plan from the Palestinians in 2005, the Israeli Supreme Court said that there is no specific date for evacuating the religious school in the settlement.

The “representative of the state” informed the court that the decision to evict or not is up to the Israeli Army Minister, Gantz, and based on an assessment of the situation, and this came in response to a petition submitted by Israeli human rights organizations on behalf of Palestinians who own land in the region. In his response to the petition, the ‘state representative’ indicated that the Israeli army currently allows settlers who study at the yeshiva to access it.