Israeli war minister Yoav Gallant on Monday approved the confiscation of hundreds of dunums of Palestinian agricultural lands as a prelude to establishing a settlement by-pass road in the West Bank.
Gallant said that the project aims at establishing a by-pass road instead of road 55 which passes through Al-Funduq village located between the West Bank cities of Qalqilya and Nablus.
Palestinian lands in the Al-Funduq Immatain and Baqat al-Hatab villages will be confiscated in favor of constructing the settlement project.
The decision comes one day following the security meeting held in the Jordanian city of Aqaba whose final statement was that Israel will not confiscate Palestinian lands in the coming four months and no new settlement outposts will be legalized in the coming six months.
According to Gallant the decision comes as a response to the shooting operation that was carried out yesterday in the town of Huwara south of Nablus.
Last year the Israeli occupation authorities discussed constructing a settlement by-pass road around Al-Funduq village following a stabbing attack that resulted in killing a Jewish settler in the village. The final approval of the plan was granted today by Gallant.
