Awad Rajoub - Hebron

With U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declaring that his country considers Israeli settlements legitimate and contrary to international law, before December 6, 2017, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a new reality would be imposed that would fade the dream of a Palestinian state, even if it was “scattered” and unconnected.

With Pompeo's announcement yesterday, 176 settlements, home to some 670,000 settlers, according to the Palestinian Authority's Wall and Settlement Authority, have gained US legitimacy and are now part of Israel.

According to data obtained by Al-Jazeera Net from the Authority, there are also 128 outposts in the West Bank, 94 military sites, 25 industrial sites and 25 tourist and service sites.

According to the same source, an area of ​​3458 square kilometers of the West Bank's 5664 square kilometers are classified as Area "C" under the Oslo Agreement, ie, under full Israeli control.

According to these data, 78% of Area C was targeted by Israeli military and settlement measures, confining the PA's authority to only 3332 square kilometers (2,967 km in the West Bank and 365 km in Gaza), or 12% of the historic land area of ​​27,000. Square kilometers.

Israeli sovereignty
Israeli B'Tselem figures show that the settlements' construction now extends over an area that constitutes about 10% of the West Bank area, in addition to about one million and 650 thousand dunums (dunums thousand square meters) is the area of ​​influence of the regional councils of settlements, and includes vast wilds do not enter In the Amran area any of the settlements.

Thus, the area of ​​land directly under the control of the settlements is about 40% of the total area of ​​the West Bank, and constitutes 63% of the area of ​​Area "C".

B'Tselem says that although the West Bank is not part of Israeli sovereignty, Israel applies most Israeli law to settlements and settlers.

Khalil Tafakji, a cartographer at the Arab Studies Association, explained that the US legitimization of the West Bank settlements after the legitimization of the occupation of Jerusalem means that they no longer constitute war crimes under the Fourth Geneva Convention, but become part of the Jewish state and any targeting of its settlers means targeting the State of Israel.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, he pointed to ethnic cleansing in areas where Bedouin communities are located east of Jerusalem and the southern and northern governorates and plans to establish new cities, thus imposing a new status quo and emptying most of the West Bank and replacing settlers.

Jerusalem is complete
With regard to Jerusalem, Tufakji said that the US recognition of it as the capital of Israel has destroyed the chances of establishing a Palestinian capital and make it full under the sovereignty of the occupation.

He said that the Palestinian presence in the city has become symbolic, where Palestinians can live and build only about nine and a half square kilometers, which constitute 13% of the area of ​​East Jerusalem, which is approximately 72 km, and 7.5% of the area of ​​Jerusalem, which is about 126 square kilometers.

Immediately after the occupation of the West Bank in June 1967, Israel annexed approximately 70,000 dunums of the West Bank to the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem municipality, applying Israeli law in violation of international law. Today, the Palestinian population in the annexed areas of the city today is at least 370,000 Palestinians and approximately 209 thousand Jewish settlers, according to B'Tselem.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) estimates the number of Palestinians in the West Bank at 2.99 million, while the number in the Gaza Strip is estimated at 1.99 million.