Israel approved two major road projects for Jewish settlers in the West Bank announcing intents to seize large tracts of Palestinian land for that purpose.
The permits issued by the Israeli occupation army’s civil administration last week for the building of two roads leading to relatively isolated Israeli settlements are set to go into effect in July.
According to the NGO Peace Now the planned Huwara bypass stretching 5.5 kilometers would serve the illegal settlement of Yitzhar south of the Palestinian city of Nablus and other smaller settlements north of Tapuach Junction.
A second road al-Arroub bypass which Peace Now says would be seven kilometers would serve settlers on al-Khalil (Hebron) Hills.
The existing Route 60 which crosses the West Bank goes through several Palestinian villages. Israeli settlers have called for the paving of bypass roads claiming driving through Palestinian villages endangers them.
Under the plan 406 dunums of land would be seized from the Palestinian towns of Burin Huwara Beita Awarta Yasuf Yatama and al-Sawiyah for the Huwara bypass and additional 401 dunums from Beit Ummar and Halhul towns for al-Arroub bypass.
Peace Now condemned the plan saying it is “part of the Israeli government’s ongoing surrender to the demands of the settlers who know full well that good roads are key to further development of Jewish settlement in the West Bank.”
Peace Now gave the example of a similar controversial project known as “Lieberman Road” leading from south-eastern Jerusalem to the settlements of Tekoa and Nokdim where former army minister Avigdor Lieberman resides.
According to Peace Now’s data housing units in settlements near the Lieberman road have nearly doubled in numbers since it was opened suggesting a correlation between new roads and expansion of settlements.
