Israel seizes more Palestinian land in occupied West Bank

The Israeli occupation authorities have seized 14 acres of Palestinian-owned land in the Bethlehem area, including land in Al-Khader, Artas, central Bethlehem and Beit Ummar in Hebron, according to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission on Sunday. The Commission said that the seizure was carried out under what the occupation calls a “military order for land appropriation for military purposes”, numbered (T/3/25).

According to the Commission, the real purpose of the move is to establish a buffer zone around the illegal Efrat settlement, which is built on Palestinian land in the Bethlehem Governorate. All of Israel’s settlements and settlement outposts are illegal under international law.

The statement added that, through a series of similar military orders, the occupation authorities have already established 14 such buffer zones surrounding several settlements. These zones, it noted, are used to deny Palestinian residents access to large areas of land under the pretext of military orders, an approach that facilitates future permanent control.

The Commission also recalled that in February, the Israeli occupation’s Land Authority issued two major tenders for the construction of 974 new settlement units to establish a new district affiliated with the Efrat settlement. This planned expansion was reported previously by the Commission.

According to maps attached to the latest military order, the planned buffer zone will not only surround the existing settlement, but also include the proposed new district and two unauthorised outposts that were recently designated as neighbourhoods to the north of Efrat. These areas are referred to as Givat HaDagan and Givat Hatamar.

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