Al-Khader is a Palestinian village located 5 km to the south of Bethlehem City, populated with more than 6809 inhabitants. The total agricultural area of Al-Khader is 10,000 dunums of which only 6000 dunums are actually used and the rest is either confiscated or prohibited from cultivation; see map.
On September 5th, the Israeli military forces declared 300 dunums as closed military area; see document. Palestinian children playing on the hill found the military order. Mr.Abdallah Ghneim, head of Al-Khader municipality, said that the order hanged on a tree, up the hill. Following is a translation of the relevant parts of the military order:
The area named Kherbat 'Alya which bounds Al-Khader from the south and has more than twenty families living in it. The ''closed military area'' lies to the east of a vital road, which connects Bethlehem district with Hebron and the south. This road had been closed since the outbreak of Al Aqsa Intifada in a continuous plan towards tightening the siege around the Palestinian cities; see photo.
The strategic point of confiscating the hill is to connect the three new settlements Givat Hadajan, Givat Hazayit, and Givat Yitmar. This will create the fourth corner of the square, which completes the merging of all the three settlements; see satellite image. Also, as we see from the satellite image, this hill controls the settlers' bypass road that connects Givat Hadajan with road 60. It is worth mentioning here that the hill overlooks the southern part of Bethlehem area and thus can be used by the Israeli army as a strategic firing position. . Also, as we see from the satellite image, this hill controls the settlers' bypass road that connects Givat Hadajan with road 60. It is worth mentioning here that the hill overlooks the southern part of Bethlehem area and thus can be used by the Israeli army as a strategic firing position.
The expansion of Al-Khader village has been already restricted by road 60, which had been constructed in the early 90s to connect Jerusalem with the southern Jewish settlements. It was constructed on large patches of the village's land that were confiscated for the purpose. Now Al-Khader is split into west and east because of this road. Moreover, the Israeli authorities claim that a 75-meters security buffer zone on both sides of the road are needed and thus prohibit any Palestinian construction or cultivation there.
The closing-in of Al-Khader village by settlements leads to the following grave facts:
1. Isolating Bethlehem area from the southern part of the West Bank
2. Damaging a large quantity of agricultural lands.
3. Restricting the natural expansion of Al-Khader village
4. Forcing the families whose houses happen to be in the area to leave.
5. Establishing an Israeli military post.
The old-new Israel policy of land confiscation and closing-in areas has been a major obstacle for progress in the peace process. It creates facts on the ground by building more settlements on the West Bank and Gaza Strip and imposes unilateral changes to which the local population is opposed. By doing so, Israel is in direct violation of International Humanitarian Laws and all what the Palestinians are asking is for those laws to be enforced. However, the continuous expansion of settlements begs the question: ''when will the international community pressure Israel into compliance with International Law?''
Prepared by:
The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem
