Bethlehem: Israel approves takeover of large tract of Palestinian land

Illegal settlements dominate landscape

Source: WAFA/Peace Now

On Earth Day, the Israeli occupation authorities approved the appropriation of a large tract of Palestinian-owned land, west of the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, an official has confirmed...

Hassan Breijeh, director of the Bethlehem office of the Wall and Settlements Resistance Commission, said that the occupation authorities have approved a plan to expropriate 147 dunums (147,000 square meters) of land belonging to Nahalin and Husan villages, southwest and west of Bethlehem respectively.

Elsewhere in the Holy Land, on Monday, Israeli settlers razed Palestinian-owned lands in the area of Khirbet al-Hamma Bedouin community in the northern Jordan Valley raising concern of the local Palestinian residents, according to local sources.

They said that settlers from an illegal outpost located near the Palestinian community used a bulldozer to raze the lands belonging to a Palestinian resident, as more land is expected to be razed to open roads for the settlers.

Residents are worried that the settlement outposts and the settlers are going to take control of most of the pastures they use to herd their livestock, which is their main source of income.

Since 1967 Israel has uprooted over 800,000 Palestinian olive trees - clearing the equivalent of 33 New York City Central Parks.

According to the Israeli settlement-watch group, Peace Now: "Over the years, Israel has used a number of legal and bureaucratic procedures in order to appropriate West Bank lands, with the primary objective of establishing settlements and providing land reserves for them."