The Supreme Council for Planning and Building in the “The occupation Civil Administration” approved the legalization of the colonial outpost “Mitzpe Lachish / Givat Habestan” built on the lands of the citizens of the town of Dura, west of Hebron. The Supreme Planning Council published the detailed organizational plan, which bears the number (521/1/b), and which aims to legitimize the colonial outpost and annex it to the “Nejhot” settlement which is built on the citizens’ lands, with area size reaching (520 dunums).
According to the published scheme; The occupation authorities will link the colonial outpost with the existing settlement and consider it one of its neighborhoods, as an alternative to establishing new settlements, and building (158) new colonial units in it, as it will create a huge colonial bloc in the region; It extends over an area of about (811 dunums), which is the lands on which the settlement of “Neghot” and the colonial outpost of “Mitzpe Lachish” are built.
The new plan targets the lands of Dura town in the following locations:
- Part of the basin No. 4 – Umm Hadwa site.
- Part of Site No. 21 – Faqiqis Site.
The annexes of the new expansion plan (521/1/b) stated that its aim is to change the nature of the land use from agricultural lands to areas for construction, to organize the settlement and to indicate the areas where settlement construction is permitted and the exclusion zones, and initiating parties to prepare this plan are the World Zionist Organization and the Mount Hebron Settlements Council.
Among the highlights of the new colonial scheme: the establishment of (104) housing units of category “A” on an area of (50 dunums), and the establishment of (54) housing units of category “C” on an area of 9 dunums, in addition to public areas open to An area of (128 dunams), including an area of (93 dunums) of pastoral land and classifying it as a nature reserve, in addition to constructing roads on an area of (31 dunums), constructing a cemetery, and a parking for vehicles in the settlement which will be legalized.
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The colonial outpost of “Mitzpe Lachish” was established around 2001, and its buildings were made of tin plates and mobile homes “caravans”. Then, it developed little by little and the settlers began to build permanent homes there. According to Israeli organizations concerned with monitoring settlements, this outpost is considered one of the “unauthorized outposts”, in which an eviction order was issued and was not implemented, Today, the occupation authorities are working to legitimize it and build 158 new colonial units. In fact, construction work in this outpost has been visible for a long time, as the mechanisms of the occupation are of leveling, and preparing the lands. The construction of settlement units is observed clearly in this outpost.
It should be noted that in 2018, the occupation authorities announced the colonial detailed plan No. (1/520/A) in the settlement of “Neghot”, which came to expand the colony on an area of 291 dunams, and they have begun the work of implementing this plan by constructing buildings, colonial units, road, and etc.
Nowadays, the occupation authorities announce the Annex (B) or the second part of this plan, which will be occurring on an area of (520 dunums). The settlement bloc is the lands of the towns of Beit Awa, Al Majd, Tawas, Faqiqis and other nearby villages.
Note: The annex to the colonial plan 521/1/b, and an aerial photo showing the location of the expansion are included in this report.
The Land Research Center
LRC
