Israel’s Supreme Court has issued a decision providing for transferring the ownership of over 500 dunums of Palestinian-owned land near Gush Etzion settlement south of Bethlehem to the Jewish National Fund Israel Hayom newspaper said on Tuesday.
The paper reported that the Supreme Court earlier this week rejected an appeal filed by the Palestinians against a court decision stipulating that the Jewish National Fund is the owner of these lands.
The court decision gives Israeli settlers the authority to build hundreds of settlement units on the seized lands which cover an area of 522 dunums (a dunum equals 1000 square meters).
The Jewish National Fund is a Zionist organization founded in 1901 to raise funds from the Jews to seize Palestinian lands and establish Jewish settlements there. The Jewish National Fund’s work continued during the British Mandate and even following the 1948 and 1967 wars.
There are 127 settlements and 116 random outposts in the West Bank inhabited by about 450000 Israelis while Jerusalem alone has 15 settlements where 220000 Israelis live.
