Israel OKs settlement project that could divide West Bank : NPR
Palestinian hamlets are seen in the E1 region, an open extent of land east of Jerusalem, between the Israeli colony of Maale Adumim and the west city of the West Bank of Eizariya on August 14.
Nasser Nasser / AP
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Nasser Nasser / AP
Like Aviv, Israel – Israel gave the final approval on Wednesday for a controversial regulation project in occupied West Bank which would effectively reduce the territory in two, and that the Palestinians and the rights defending rights could destroy the hopes of a future Palestinian state.
The development of E1 stands, open grounds in the east of Jerusalem, has been being studied for more than two decades, but has been frozen due to American pressure during previous administrations. The international community considers the construction of Israeli colonies in the West Bank as illegal and an obstacle to peace.
This map shows the proposed area of the E1 colony, in parallel with a representation of the colonies existing between it and Jerusalem.
Will Jarrett / AP
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Will Jarrett / AP
Far -right Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, a former settlers’ leader, expressed approval as a reprimand in Western countries that have announced their intention to recognize a Palestinian state in recent weeks.
“The Palestinian state is erased from the table not with slogans but with actions,” he said on Wednesday. “Each colony, each district, each accommodation is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects the idea of a Palestinian state alongside Israel and promised to maintain open control over occupied West Bank, annexed Jerusalem -Est, and the Gaza Strip ravaged by the War – Israel Territories seized in the 1967 war that the Palestinians wish for their state.
The expansion of the colonies by Israel is part of an increasingly disastrous reality for the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, because the attention of the world focuses on the war in Gaza. There was a marked increase in the attacks of the colonists against the Palestinians, the expulsions of the Palestinian cities, Israeli military operations and control points which suffocate freedom of movement, as well as several Palestinian attacks against the Israelis.
The Israeli Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, holds a card that shows the E1 regulation draft during a press conference near the Maale Adumim Regulations, in the West Bank occupied by Israeli on August 14.
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Ohad zwigenberg / ap
More than 700,000 Israeli settlers are now living in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The location of E1 is significant because it is one of the last geographic links between the major cities of the western Walm of Ramallah, to the north, and Bethlehem, to the south.
The two cities are separated by 22 kilometers (14 miles), but the Palestinians traveling between them must take a large detour and pass through several Israeli checkpoints, spend hours on the trip. The hope was that, in a possible Palestinian state, the region would serve as a direct link between cities.
“The regulation in E1 has no other goal than to sabotage a political solution,” said Peace Now, an organization following the expansion of the regulation in the West Bank. “While the consensus among our friends around the world is to seek peace and a solution to two states, a government that has long lost popular confidence under the national interest, and we all pay the price.”
Asked about E1 in an interview with the Associated Press, the United States Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said that talking about a two-state solution was not a “high priority” for the Trump administration and that there were too many unanswered questions about what a Palestinian state would look like. The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for additional comments.
If the process moves quickly, infrastructure work in E1 could start in the coming months and the construction of houses could start in about a year. The plan includes around 3,500 apartments which would include the existing colony of Maale Adumim. Smotrich also welcomed the approval, at the same meeting of 350 houses for the Ashael regulations near Hebron.
Israel could, in theory, delete the regulations on a future date, as he did with his products in Gaza in 2005, but this possibility seems extremely distant at present, given strong support for the colonies between the Israeli government and even certain opposition parties.
The Israeli government is dominated by religious and ultra -nationalist politicians, such as Smotrich, with close ties with the movement of the colonies. The Minister of Finance obtained the authority at the level of the cabinet on settlement policies and promised to double the population of settlers in the West Bank.
