The National Office for the Defense of Land on Saturday said that the Israeli occupation authorities have recently issued new military orders aimed at facilitating settlement construction on Palestinian lands.
The National Office said in its weekly report that the new orders prevent the publication of details related to the new settlement projects in Arabic as was the case previously to make it difficult for Palestinians to confront these projects.
The Office explained that prior notices of land confiscation for settlement purposes used to be published in at least two Arab newspapers in accordance with the provisions of a Jordanian law which the Israeli authorities acted under for a period of time.
That law enabled anti-settlement activists to obstruct settlement construction in some cases.
Eli Ben-Dahan Israel’s deputy minister of war has issued a new order that does not oblige his authorities to announce their settlement projects in Arab newspapers. They can publish them in Arabic on the website of the Civil Administration only.
Ben-Dahan believes that this step will deprive the Palestinians of an effective tool usually used to disrupt the settlement expansion.
In a related context the National Office for the Defense of Land said that the Israeli Supreme Court has decided to give the residents of the Palestinian Bedouin community of al-Khan al-Ahmar in East Jerusalem a time limit that expires next Thursday to evacuate their homes.
The Office said that the displacement plan targeting the Bedouins of al-Khan al-Ahmar falls in line with an Israeli project to expand settlement construction in the eastern part of Jerusalem toward the Dead Sea in preparation for ending the Palestinian presence in Area C.
The Israeli authorities further intend to open a new crossing northeast of Jerusalem near Anatot settlement and establish a wide road network to link settlements deep inside the West Bank with Israeli roads in Jerusalem.
