People run for shelter amid tensions in West Bank
A new settlement plan by the Israeli government is likely to displace 7,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, the Jerusalem governor announced on Monday, August 18.
Last week, Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Yoel Smotrich, who is also in charge of the settlement activity, approved plans for building over 6,900 settler units in and around the Ma’ale Adumim settlement.
The project aims to link Israeli settlers in Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem, cutting Palestinian territories between Ramallah and Bethlehem. “Twenty-two Bedouin communities (traditionally nomadic Arabic-speaking people) in the area would be directly affected by the settlement project,” the Jerusalem governor said in a statement.
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Furthermore, the project will also lead to the displacement of Palestinians residing in Jabal al-Baba and Wadi Jamil from the nearby town of Al-Eizariya.
The United Nations has maintained that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory are illegal and violate international law. It also states that the settlements are an obstacle to a two-state solution.
Israel’s plan to revive the settlement project could lead to heightened tensions in Palestine and backlash from the international community, the Middle East Monitor reported.
