Israeli land leveling in Al Khader village waves for new settlement activities in the area

On the 8^th of February 2018, Israeli heavy machinery escorted by the Israeli Occupation Army (IOA) started leveling lands in Al Khader village west of Bethlehem. The targeted land is located north of Eli’azer settlement, alongside the so-called “Israeli Bypass Road No. 60[1]”.  A field visit to the targeted site showed a new road is being constructed on lands of al Khader based on previously issued military orders namely 18/7/MD, 18/6/MD18/5/MD, 18/4/MD and 18/3/MD that state the confiscation of 67.7 dunums of land in total (24.545 dunusm, 11.886 dunums, 18.486 dunums, 6.39 dunums, and 6.431 dunums respectively). Furthermore, Palestinian land owners were prevented from accessing their lands which are being leveled and destructed in the moment as the Israeli Occupation Army (IOA) declared the area where land leveling is taking place as a “closed military zone”, and installed two new iron gates, preventing Palestinians from coming nearby. See Map 1

Map 1: Palestinian Lands targeted in the military Orders 
 

Furthermore, on the 13^th of February 2018, the Israeli daily newspaper, Times of Israel, reported that Israel has advanced a handful of settlement projects throughout the occupied West Bank, including a plan to build what it called as  “temporary” settlement to house the settlers of the illegal Netiv Ha’avot outpost which is slated for demolition by the 6^th of March 2018. The newspaper added that the Israeli Civil Administration’s High Planning Subcommittee granted final approval for 17 temporary homes to be built for the 15 settler families whose homes are set to be razed with regard to a petition filed by a group of Palestinian landowners testifying that  the settlers homes were built on Private Palestinian land in the area. The planned temporary settlement homes will be placed in an area adjacent to the nearby Alon Shvut settlement, in the Gush Etzion bloc, thus threatening the whole area to become under the Israeli control in the near future. See Map 2

Map 2: The planned settlement for settlers of Natve Ha'avot 

The Temporary settlement plan of Native Ha’avot holds number 405/11 and is slated to confiscate 41 dunums of Al Khader village lands. The plan declares change in land status with regard to chapter No. 20/24 of  the Israeli City, Village, and Building Planning Law no. 79 of 1966. See copy of the Israeli AD as posted on the Israeli Interior ministry website

Photo 1-3: AD as posted on the Israeli Interior ministry website

Provisions of the plan come as follows

• Land Rezoning from industrial area to temporary residential area and open public space.
• Land Rezoning from open public space  to An area whose designation will be determined in the future
• Determination of various permissible land Uses.
• Outlining the various road network classification.
• Setting limits and provisions in the area with regard to construction plan.
• Determining conditions, stages of implementation and development phases required for the operational agency. Details of TPS No. 405/11

Analysis conducted by the Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem showed that the projected settlement will be built on land previously declared as “STATE LAND” by the Israeli Custodian of Absentee property. The order was issued on the 6th of April 2014, the “Custodian of Absentee property[2] & Israel Land Authority of Judea and Samaria ” attached to the Israeli Ministry of Defense/Civil Administration, Yousi Sigal, issued a military order to seize 984[7] dunums of land from two Palestinian communities in Bethlehem and Hebron Governorates, Al Khader and Beit Ummer, by declaring it “State Land”.  See Copy of Military Order 
 

Photo 4-6: Order Concerning State Property (Judea & Samaria) (No. 59-1967) 
 

The military order shows that the Israeli government had started with the confiscation of 984 dunums of Palestinian land as preliminary step towards expropriating more Palestinian lands in the area that is actually located between the illegal settlements of Ele’azar, Rush Tzurim, Neve Daniel and Alon Shevut, with the purpose of fortifying and consolidating the Gush Etzion Settlement Bloc in general.