Building permits for the Palestinians in the "C" areas .. Settlement whitening and gradual erosion of the West Bank

Mohamed Mohsen Wedd - Occupied Jerusalem

The announcement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to grant building permits to Palestinians in Area C with the administration's hints that Israel will be able to maintain Area C, which includes most of the occupied West Bank.

Area C comprises 60 percent of the West Bank, and includes most of the settlements, military zones, IDF fire, and open natural areas, and the area under the Oslo agreement is subject to the sovereignty of the Occupying Power both in security and in civilian terms.

On Tuesday, the Israeli cabinet approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to build 715 housing units for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank area of ​​C, in return for building 6,000 in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. During an inspection tour of the settlement of Efrat (south of the occupied West Bank), Netanyahu announced the start of the construction of 1,000 settlement units in Bethlehem.

The Israeli move coincided with the visit of Jared Kouchner, adviser and brother-in-law of US President Donald Trump to the Middle East, to discuss ways to announce the peace plan known as the "Deal Century" and before closing the door to run for the 22nd Knesset elections Thursday.

The plan, if implemented, would allow Netanyahu - according to analysts - to say he is making an effort to implement the peace plan in the Middle East that Jared Kouchner is carrying out and seeks to implement.

Influence and powers
Israeli cabinet ministers agree that approving the construction of Palestinians in Area C is an important step toward deepening Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and limiting the PA's authority and authority.

With Netanyahu's move, analysts and politicians believe that Israel has chosen to be a single Jewish state in historic Palestine. It has finally abandoned the two-state solution based on dividing the country's land with the Palestinians by establishing a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital alongside Israel.

This Israeli approach was expressed by the US ambassador to Tel Aviv, David Friedman, who was present at the Netanyahu government meeting which approved the construction in Area C. Friedman's media statements were supportive of Israel and its policies in the West Bank, stressing that Washington believes in Palestinian self-rule and not the Palestinian state.

Analysts say it would be easier for Washington to support Israel's approach to annexing its sovereignty to what they called "the occupied territories in a defensive war," just as the US administration justified its recognition of the annexation of the Syrian Golan .

An Israeli deal
According to political commentator Aluf Benn, the Israeli construction of the Palestinians in Area C is aimed at concluding a deal between Netanyahu and the parties of the far-right camp ahead of the Knesset elections in September.

The political commentator suggested that the undeclared deal was aimed at removing the indictment of corruption against Netanyahu, in exchange for the gradual annexation of settlements in coordination with US President Donald Trump, a move that would pave the way for the annexation of most of the West Bank territory to Israeli sovereignty.

The political commentator that Netanyahu aims to ensure that this action to secure his horse at the right camp to prevent him from trial after the hearing in October next, while paving the way for the gradual annexation of the West Bank and reduce the areas of land under the sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority.

In exchange for giving Netanyahu immunity from corruption files to ensure his political future, Aluf Benn believes that Netanyahu will have to coordinate with President Trump a plan for a "century deal" in a way that allows Israel to declare its sovereignty in the settlements and ensure that no settler is evicted.

In addition to ensuring American bias toward the Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, Haaretz's political correspondent, Lando, estimates that "this step is part of an initial change by the Israeli government toward the Palestinian cause."

The political correspondent believes that Netanyahu's goal of building for the Palestinians in Area C is a gradual withdrawal of the PA's sovereignty over these areas and encirclement by preventing them from taking part in any future planning and planning on the ground.

It also calls for the planning and licensing of hundreds of Palestinian homes. Lando says that "dealing with growing international and legal criticism against Israel for intensifying the demolition of Palestinian buildings and communities, and not allowing any normal growth of Palestinians."

Continuous targeting
The political correspondent's assessment was reinforced by statements made by Minister Betzeliel Smutritich, who initiated Knesset legislation to impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, asserting that the purpose of the cabinet's ratification is to deepen Israeli sovereignty in Area C.

"For the first time in the Oslo Accords, Israel will have sovereignty over Area C, and the Arabs have no sovereignty," the Israeli minister wrote on Facebook.

According to Smotrich, Israel is imposing facts on the ground that Palestinians can only develop and expand in places that do not affect security and settlement projects, in areas that do not promote territorial contiguity and do not create a de facto Palestinian state.

"For the first time, the State of Israel exercises its sovereignty and responsibility over the entire territory and takes responsibility for its actions."