Israel Plans To Grab West Bank Farmland
Source: Reuters
Occupied Jerusalem: Israel plans to appropriate a large tract of agricultural land in the occupied West Bank, Israel's Army Radio said on Wednesday, a move that has angered Palestinians and is almost certain to draw international criticism.
The report said the land, covering 154 hectares (380 acres), was in the fertile Jordan Valley close to Jericho, an area where Israel already has many settlement farms built on land Palestinians seek for their own state.
The appropriation, which Army Radio said would be announced shortly but was not immediately confirmed by the Israeli Defence Ministry which administers the West Bank, comes at a time of increased international condemnation of settlement policy.
Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organisation, described Israel's reported move as a violation of international law.
Read more: http://timesofoman.com/article/75903/World/Middle-East/Hanan-Ashrawi-described-Israel's-reported-move-to-grab-West-Bank-farmland-as-a-violation-of-internat
PALESTINIANS TO GO TO U.N. AFTER ISRAEL'S WEST BANK LAND
SEIZURE PLANS REVEALED
The Palestinians have decided that they will submit a resolution on Israeli settlements to the U.N. Security Council “very soon,” Saeb Erekat, the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization and chief Palestinian negotiator, tells Newsweek. Consultations with the U.N. body’s members began on Thursday, after Israeli media revealed Israel’s plan to appropriate the largest amount of West Bank land since 2014.
Erekat spoke to Newsweek by phone after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah and visiting the site of the planned appropriation in the Jordan Valley earlier in the day. He says that the Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki had already kick-started consultations about the resolution with U.N. Security Council and Arab League members.
“It’s in the works. Members of the Security Council, members of the Arab League were consulted today by the foreign minister,” he reveals, declining to name the member states who were contacted. “I think we will do it very soon. I can say as soon as we finish our consultations with all concerned parties, including the United States. [Abbas] is fully on board, he is pushing for it.”
The move came just hours after Israel’s Army Radio reported on Israeli plans to declare 154 hectares (380 acres) of land in the Jordan Valley, near the West Bank city of Jericho, as state land, according to Reuters. The reports sparked Palestinian anger and are set to draw international criticism. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the reports.
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http://www.newsweek.com/palestinians-go-un-after-israels-west-bank-land-seizure-plans-revealed-417870
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