730 settlement units will be built in the first phase to restrict the urban expansion of the Palestinians
“West Ariel”...a settler neighborhood that expands the area of swallowing up Salfit lands
The new settlement neighborhood is adjacent to the settlement of Ariel.
Emirates today
Part of the construction of the new settlement neighborhood.
Emirates today
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Two kilometers from the settlement of Ariel, the largest settlement in the West Bank on Palestinian lands in the Salfit governorate in the northern West Bank, Israeli mechanisms and bulldozers are working around the clock, in order to establish a new settlement neighborhood, which expands Ariel’s consumption of more Palestinian lands.
The occupation will establish the new settlement neighborhood “West Ariel” in the Ras area, west of Salfit. In its first phase, the plan consists of establishing 730 settlement units inside the new neighborhood, bringing the number of settlements on Palestinian lands in the Salfit governorate to 25.
In its issue issued on Tuesday morning, November 16, Haaretz newspaper reported that the new residential neighborhood is located in an isolated area, about two kilometers from the Ariel settlement. Units of the settlement neighborhood will be built towards Palestinian residential areas, which will prevent the urban expansion of Palestinians in the area.
According to the newspaper, the plan for the settlement neighborhood was prepared in the nineties of the last century, and last October, after 30 years, it was taken out of the stairs and started by the Israeli Ministry of Housing, which announced tenders to build the neighborhood.
Preventing urban expansion
The bulldozing works, led by the occupation mechanisms, west of Salfit, limit the expansion of the governorate’s towns and villages, as they devoured large areas of Palestinian lands and farms.
This is what happened with Palestinian farmer Fayez Abdel-Dayem from Salfit, where the occupation mechanisms bulldozed his agricultural land, and removed 250 olive trees, which is his only source of livelihood.
For his part, Khaled Maali, a researcher in settlement affairs in the Salfit governorate, told "Emirates Today" in an exclusive interview: "On the morning of Monday, November 15, 20 Israeli military vehicles and two huge bulldozers stormed the quarries area, west of Salfit, to start razing, For a residential neighborhood near the (Ariel) settlement.”
He points out that the new settlement "West Salfit" neighborhood will be built next to the "Nof Avi" settlement outpost, perched on privately owned Palestinian land, in the Al-Tal area, west of Salfit Governorate.
Maali continues: "For more than a year, the occupation has paved the way for the implementation of the settlement neighborhood plan, by establishing the Nof Avi outpost, which is the settlers' gateway, in order to launch attacks on citizens' lands, burn agricultural crops, and cut trees."
According to the researcher in settlement affairs, the settlement neighborhood threatens the lands of the city of Salfit with the danger of being swallowed up and confiscated, and limits the urban expansion of the Palestinians, since the confiscated spaces for the establishment of units and outposts west of Salfit are the only outlet for construction and reconstruction.
Maali explains that the establishment of the “West Salfit” neighborhood prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state, due to the division of Salfit towns and villages into besieged and isolated areas, like the rest of the West Bank governorates.
endemic swallow
On the other hand, the mayor of Salfit Municipality, Abd al-Karim Zubeidi, said: “The population of the settlement (Ariel), in which the occupation intends to build the settlement neighborhood (West Salfit), is 200,000 settlers, and its influence is 14,000 dunams, including Palestinian lands with Private ownership, and the settlement neighborhood swallows 4000 dunums of Palestinian land.”
He added that "the new settlement neighborhood will be built in an isolated area from the settlement of Ariel, two kilometers away from it, which will lead to the dispossession of all the thousands of dunams of land between Ariel and the head area in Salfit."
The mayor of Salfit indicates that the main road leading to the Salfit governorate will be closed to the movement of Palestinian citizens. After the establishment of the new settlement plan, it will be within the roads linking the Ariel settlement to the West Ariel neighborhood.
Zubaidi goes on to say: “The confiscated land areas, to implement the new settlement plan, have been allocated plans for urban expansion and the provision of service projects for the residents of Salfit, in addition to building a university to serve 10,000 students, while the (West Ariel) neighborhood is located in the area that will be built. It has the educational edifice.”
The occupation mechanisms are carrying out excavation and bulldozing works in the area of the Za’tara checkpoint, and the extension of the main “Aber Samaria” street in the Salfit Governorate, as part of the plan to establish the settlement neighborhood.
The settlement neighborhood threatens the lands of the city of Salfit with the danger of being swallowed up and confiscated, and it limits the urban expansion of the Palestinians, since the confiscated areas for the establishment of units and outposts "west of Salfit" are the only outlet for construction and reconstruction.
• The scheme of the settlement neighborhood was prepared in the nineties of the last century, and after 30 years it was taken out of the stairs, and its implementation was initiated by the Israeli Ministry of Housing, which announced tenders to build the neighborhood.
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