Khaberni - The National Office for the Defense of the Land and the Resistance of Settlement stated in its periodic report today, Saturday, that the occupation government has overturned the agreements with the Palestinian side and decided to deepen the settlements and expedite the annexation.
The report said, "The priorities of the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu have changed, instead of seeking absolute victory and eliminating Hamas in Gaza, Netanyahu chose to destroy the Palestinian Authority and cancel the agreements that Israel signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization and impose an actual annexation of the West Bank."
The office referred to a report by the Israeli "Peace Now" movement in its latest release last week, stating that on February 8, the Israeli Security Cabinet decided on a series of measures that enable Israelis to buy land in the West Bank without restrictions and without government oversight, thus granting a few settlers the ability to impose facts on the ground without government intervention, and paving the way for fraudulent real estate trade, in addition to stripping the Palestinian Authority of its powers in some areas (A) and (B) and in Hebron, in a clear and explicit violation of international legitimacy and international agreements signed with the Palestinian side. The report confirmed that all main decisions related to settlement policy were made by the Security Cabinet and not by the full government, to keep the decisions secret from the local, regional, and international public opinion.
Details of the Israeli Security Cabinet decision mentioned the report included the cancellation of the law effective in the West Bank since the Jordanian era, which only allowed residents of the West Bank or companies registered there to buy land, and enabled settlers to buy land directly from the Palestinians. The report added that a bill on this matter was presented to the Knesset about a year ago to reinforce the government's direction. However, the project stalled because the West Bank is under military rule and not part of the State of Israel, thus changing the existing laws there is not within the powers of the Knesset. The report stated that transactions to buy land by Israelis are considered suspicious, besides being classified as high treason, especially since Palestinian Authority laws prohibit selling land to Israelis, therefore, all such sales transactions are conducted secretly and often through forgery and fraud.
The report added that the decision authorizes the opening of land ownership records in the West Bank for public review after they had been classified as confidential. Despite this secrecy prevented forgery and fraud in real estate transactions, protected the properties of abandoned Palestinians, and protected the privacy of transaction parties and lives of those who sold their lands to Israelis. The report confirmed that this secrecy hindered settlers eager to control the lands, whether secretly or through forgery and fraud. It also mentioned that the extreme right-wing movement "Regavim" had filed a petition to the Supreme Court to open the records for public inspection, but the court rejected it. The report added that the decision includes renewing the mechanism of purchasing land by what is called the State Property Guardian in the West Bank, through the company "Hemnuta" affiliated with the Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael), which will buy lands as requested by the State Property Guardian, according to what was mentioned by the "Peace Now" movement.
The report confirmed that law enforcement agencies in areas (A) and (B) will operate in the fields of heritage and archaeological sites, environmental hazards, and water violations, and they will be able to demolish Palestinian buildings in cases where heritage, environment, or water resources are damaged, including waste dumps and polluting factories as well as small homes. The report mentioned that the Knesset approved last week in its first reading a bill allowing Israel to exercise oversight over archeology in areas (A) and (B), and that the government will pass it without the need for legislation from the Knesset. The report stated that the government assumed law enforcement powers in parts of area (B) classified as a mutually agreed reserve, about a year and a half ago, which led to the halt of Palestinian development and construction projects and demolition operations in areas under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority according to agreements.
The report also mentioned that the Security Cabinet decided that the Civil Administration would assume planning and building powers in the compound of the Ibrahimi Mosque and in the settlement area inside the city of Hebron, which contradicts the Hebron Protocol (January 1997) that stipulates that planning and building powers fall under the jurisdiction of the Municipality of Hebron. The report confirmed that the government seeks to expand the settlements and make changes in the compound without the municipality's approval, and thus it can develop the existing outposts and build additional settlements.
The report added that the Security Cabinet also decided to establish a special system to manage the site of Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, which allows the government to transfer budgets for the development of the site and the religious school adjacent to it.
This step is similar to what happened about a decade ago in Hebron, when the government established the Municipality of Hebron Committee, authorized to manage the municipal affairs for Israelis only, funded by the Ministry of Interior with about 5 million new Israeli shekels annually.
The report mentioned that Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on the "X" platform following these decisions: "The Cabinet approved a series of decisions co-drafted with Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, aimed at removing old obstacles and boosting settlement in Judea and Samaria in an organized and responsible manner." Smotrich added that one of the central steps is to open land records to the public, abolish old Jordanian instructions prohibiting the sale of land to Jews, and transfer building licensing powers in the Jewish quarter and in sacred places in Hebron from Palestinian mechanisms to civil administration planning institutions. The report confirmed that the head of the West Bank Settlers Council, Yisrael Gantz, described the decisions as historic, calling for going beyond these decisions and burying the Oslo accords forever.
The report informed that on last Monday, 8 Arab and Islamic countries expressed their rejection of these new Israeli measures, which aim to impose an "illegitimate sovereignty" and entrench settlement in the occupied West Bank. This came in a joint statement by the foreign ministers of Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
For its part, the European Union condemned the new measures taken by Israel to strengthen its control over the occupied West Bank, paving the way for building more settlements in the Palestinian territories, while the American administration initially remained silent, and when it later commented on the matter, it referred to its opposition to annexation only.
The report referred to what it described as a "settlement coup," revealing that on February 5, the Israeli Ministry of Interior granted "municipal codes" to five new settlement outposts as part of a systematic plan to legitimize random construction and transform it into officially recognized settlements. Smotrich said, "Hummash (north of the West Bank) received a settlement code, along with four other settlements: Yonadav in the Hebron hills, Givot in Gush Etzion (south), Petron in the Jordan Valley, and Kedum Arrafa (north)." He added, "Last month, we managed to bring in 20 new settlement codes, thus completing their organization." Settlement codes are an administrative and legal step representing government recognition of the existence of settlements. The new settlement resolution also included the "Havat Gilad" outpost built on privately owned Palestinian land, joining the list of recognized settlements. With this “code,” these settlements will be able to receive budgets for municipal services and connect to infrastructure like electricity, water, and sewage, as well as expand their building scope legally according to Israeli standards. This step comes simultaneously with record numbers being registered by the "Religious Zionism" stream in the government; 20 other settlements were regulated during the past few months.
