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Israel to Expropriate 1000 Acres in West Bank

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Israel to Annex 100 Acres Gush Etzion

The Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced on Sunday that Israel will begin to expropriate 4,000 dunams (approximately 1,000 acres) of land in the West Bank; fully integrating the Gush Etzion settlement bloc into Israeli territory.

The expropriation comes only two and a half months after the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli teens Naftali Frenkel, Gil-Ad Sha’ar and Eyal Yifrah in the West Bank in the Gush Etzion area. The Israeli COGAT, Major General Yoav (Poli) Mordechai, stated that the annexation of the territory follows “the political echelon’s instructions regarding the finish of the operation following the teens’ deaths”, and added that “the process became possible after a thorough examination of the Israeli Civil Administration.”

Any disagreements with the IDF’s expansion of Israeli state land in the West Bank can be filed within 45 days. The Palestinian Authority issued an immediate condemnation of what it termed the “seizure” of its land. The Secretary of Israeli NGO “Peace Now” has dubbed the annexation “a knife in Abbas’ back”.

UPDATE: On Monday, September 1, Israel’s Economy Minister and Chairman of Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) declared the expropriation of 4000 Dunam’s in the West Bank an “act of Zionism“. The Minister made the statement in an address to Israeli students when visiting Yeshiva Mekor Chaim in Kfar Etzion of the Gush Etzion settlement on the first day of the Israeli school year.  The yeshiva was attended by two of the Israeli boys who were kidnapped and murdered by Hamas terrorists in June 2014.

The full context of Minister Bennett’s statement was as follows, “Until a couple of months ago, you students here at Mekor Chaim were regular students. Today you are the spearhead. You now bear extra weight upon your shoulders, the ‘mekor chaim’ – the source of life – of Israel…..Yesterday the government made two decisions – one which builds up and strengthens the Gaza frontier, and the second which builds up and strengthens Gush Etzion… What we did yesterday was an act of Zionism.

The Secretary General of UN, Ban Ki-Moon, released a statement saying, “The Secretary-General is alarmed by yesterday’s announcement by Israeli authorities to declare as so-called ‘state land’ nearly 1,000 acres of land in the Bethlehem area of the West Bank.”

Egypt’s foreign ministry also condemned the move stating that, “This is not a positive step — it contradicts international law and will have negative consequences on the peace process.”

The post Israel to Expropriate 1000 Acres in West Bank appeared first on Holy Land Report.


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