Israeli Regime to Take Over More Palestinian Land For Illegal Settlement Expansion
Salfit Governor Abdullah Kamil said in a statement that Israeli officials had issued an order aimed at confiscation of more than 10 square kilometers of Palestinian-owned land, the Palestinian Information Center reported on Sunday.
He added that the so-called Israeli Supreme Planning and Building Council has announced that the targeted lands are situated in the towns of Az-Zawiya, Deir Ballut, Rafat, Mas-ha village as well as the village of Sinria, south of Qalqilya.
The senior Palestinian official highlighted that the Palestinian-owned lands are planned to be used to construct industrial and tourist areas, settlement units, and roads linking settlements.
Kamil called on local residents and farmers to communicate with local authorities represented by municipal and village councils, the General Authority for Civil Affairs and the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority to submit their objections.
He also urged the international community to take strong positions against the Israeli regime to stop its illegal settlement expansion policies.
Emboldened by the US support, Israel has brazenly increased its unlawful settlement construction efforts, in direct defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which unequivocally condemned the establishment of settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds as a gross violation of international law.
The vast majority of the international community views these Israeli settlements in occupied territories as illegal.
More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.
The UN Security Council has issued multiple resolutions condemning Israel's settlement activities in these occupied territories.
Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state with East al-Quds as its capital.
The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014. Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel’s continued illegal settlement expansion.
