Many data on the ground indicate that Israel lifted the annexation plan from the table only to deceive the public opinion and the international community, at a time when the infrastructure for the annexation project continued to be implemented through "bypassing annexation." And dozens of streets between the settlements.
The National Office for Land Defense and Settlement Resistance said in its weekly report that what is happening today is the implementation of a number of plans that have been prepared for the construction of roads and various projects. Housing in the settlements aims to turn the West Bank until 2045 into a new Galilee, if there are no surprises that would prompt the occupying power to reconsider its accounts, plans, and settlement projects.
A source connected to those plans explained to (Haaretz) newspaper last week that what is new in the plans lies in their connection with the main Qatari construction plan in Israel, as there is talk of a change in the approach of the occupation authorities, which previously refrained from including the West Bank in long-term plans.
The source explains that during 50 years, Israel did not plan in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), and kept all the national outline plans "Judea and Samaria" as a black hole, according to Yigal Dilmuni, Director General of the Yesha Settlements Council, as he put it.
With the administration of US President Donald Trump, the situation changed and the thinking began to build a network of longitudinal and transverse roads, some of them new and some old ones that are being expanded.
On paper, this is being done for the benefit of all residents in the West Bank, Palestinians and settlers. However, the plan includes what is not written on paper, and the goal is to expand the settlements up to the "million plan", which is the goal that the Yeshua Council set for itself last year: One million Jews in the West Bank over 15 years, and with a broader look, one can see one form of annexation plan of another kind, namely infrastructure.The same source confirms that each of these projects has a price on the land for the Palestinians. In order to break the Arabs bypass, 401 dunums of Palestinian land were confiscated, and in Hewara we are talking about a little more than 406 dunums with the accompanying uprooting of hundreds of trees and closing 150 Meters on both sides of the street for security reasons, in addition to expanding settlements, linking them to the occupying state, restricting the freedom of movement of Palestinians, besieging them in their villages and towns, and striking their economy, so there is another price for these plans, which is converting settlements into desirable cities and towns, and points of attraction for the Israelis.
As a result, everyone finds themselves facing a new reality. Industrial zones, streets, gas, electricity and water networks, and within years there will be a million settlers in the occupied lands.
In implementation of these projects, the Minister of Transportation in the Occupying Power, Miri Regev, approved 4 new settlement projects in the West Bank with the aim of facilitating the movement of settlers, at a cost of 400 million shekels.
The projects are: the Western Laban bypass Street at a cost of 100 million NIS, and Modi´in Illit Street (446) to link the “Modi´in Illit” settlement with the “Lapid” settlement at a cost of 171 million shekels, and Adam-Hazma Street for the benefit of the settlers in “Beit El” settlement at a cost of 17 million NIS. And a street that includes building a bridge over Qalandia to Jerusalem with new checkpoints, and 103 million shekels have been allocated for the project, in addition to allocating a budget of 400 million shekels to develop transportation in the settlements.
Last month, Regev presented a long-term strategic plan for a new transportation network linking settlements in the occupied West Bank, and the plan includes plans for the next twenty years, and includes bypass roads linking settlements and new longitudinal and transverse streets. The plan includes new projects, including a new road bearing the number 80 that will contain Sections of existing streets now will be developed and new ones, and the plan will include new bypass streets called "Huwara bypass", "Beit Ummar bypass" and "Arroub bypass", in addition to developing and expanding Street 55 from Street 6 to Street 60 and a new road will be built. Qalandia checkpoint in Jerusalem, and the expansion of Road 437 in the Hizma checkpoint area and Road 375 from the "Tzur Hadassah" settlement in Jerusalem to Husan Junction, and the expansion of Road 446 between the settlements of Sheilat and Modiin, in addition to the expansion of Road 505 between the settlers of "Tabuah" and "Ariel".
These projects will be divided into 3 phases: the first is short-term, which ends in 2025, the other is medium-term and ends in 2035, and the last is long-term, and ends in 2045.
In Jerusalem and its environs, the occupation government does not stop its settlement projects, as it aims to create a large settlement belt around Jerusalem by constructing new settlement roads and streets aimed at preventing any expansion or geographical contact of the people of Jerusalem from the south as part of the so-called "Jerusalem Envelope Belt."
The occupation municipality in Jerusalem began its actual steps aimed at paving a new road at the beginning of next year, linking the new settlement outpost, Mordot, with the settlement of Gilo, south of occupied Jerusalem, at the expense of the confiscated Palestinian lands belonging to the residents of Walaja, Beit Safafa and the area south of Jerusalem, and it has been confiscated since It is planted with olive trees, almonds, carob and others for years, and its owners are forbidden to use it. The company owned by it, "Moria", was commissioned with the implementation work, according to what was stated at the conclusion of the meeting of the mayor of the occupation, Moshe Lion with the residents of that outpost, with the participation of the city engineer and a number of members of the municipality of "Gilo" settlement .
In a statement, the occupation municipality stated that about 1500 new settlers are living in the new settlement neighborhood, "Mordot", which was added to "Gilo" settlement with 350 units, while it is expected that about 550 new settlers will be added next year and they are under approval, and bids will be issued for them within 45 days.
The decision stated that, in addition to the settlement buildings, a number of public buildings will be built in the new settlement, including a synagogue and a number of kindergartens expected to open soon, and an educational complex near the community center administration branch.
This settlement project will completely close the area, as a result of the construction of the new settlement road, in order to completely separate Jerusalem from its Palestinian depth, and to prevent any geographical contact with the occupied West Bank, specifically the city of Bethlehem.
Whereas, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee considered that the Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing’s plan to build a new settlement of 9,000 settlement units on the land of Qalandia Airport, north of Jerusalem, meets the conditions required for approval.
She said that the decision came after a conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in which the committee determined that the scheme meets the required conditions.
The project is facing international opposition, especially from the European Union, but also from the new democratic administration in the United States. However, Israel is ignoring this and is pushing the construction plan before the entry of US President-elect Joe Biden to the White House.
An objection filed by about 400 settlers living in the "French Hill" settlement north of Jerusalem to the Jerusalem Planning and Construction Committee revealed a dangerous settlement plan to build a settlement tower in the area between the Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital in the town of Issawiya.
It is considered the longest in the Holy City, as the "District Planning and Building Committee" initially approved the plan, which will be built on an area of ​​2,500 square meters, from Palestinian lands confiscated by the occupation authorities from the town of Issawiya since 1967.
The 30-storey tower will be built with infrastructure, including offices, shops, hotels, entertainment venues, parking lots, apartments for Hebrew University students, and settlement units of about 150 units at 100 meters per apartment, to bring more settlers to the area.
In another step towards completing annexation and expansion plans, an engineering company affiliated to the occupation authorities undertook surveying lands for citizens in the villages of Qarawat Bani Hassan and Sarta, west of Salfit governorate, in addition to Khirbet al-Hama and Mafraq al-Malih in the northern Jordan Valley. Qarawat Bani Hassan and Sarka, with an area of ​​about 89 dunums, is adjacent to the settlement of Ma´ale Israel, close to the Barkan settlement industrial and residential area, and it also included targeting the lands of “Khallet Hodeidah” belonging to Qarawah and Haris, where sweeping work continues until the moment with the aim of settlement expansion.
In a related context, local sources said that ten civilian vehicles belonging to the occupation carried a large group of engineers and surveyors to the area between Khirbet al-Hama and even al-Malih junction near the Ain al-Hilweh cluster, where the area of ​​these surveyed lands is more than 35 thousand dunams.
In the Nablus governorate, the occupation forces were notified of seizing about a thousand dunums of agricultural lands from the villages of Burin, Madama, and Asirah al-Qibli, south of Nablus, with the aim of expanding the neighboring "Yitzhar" settlement, and constructing a security road serving settlers.
The notification that was issued describes the settlement of "Yitzhar" as a "town", meaning that it is part of Israeli cities, after it was described a few years ago as "the isolated settlement". This means the existence of a structural plan recognized by the occupation government and the settlement council in the West Bank. He must also conduct a (settlement) for the lands that it intends to confiscate for annexation to the master plan, whose area may reach about a thousand dunams.
This step aims to change the classification of lands from agricultural to residential in favor of the structural expansion of the settlement, which threatens to seize more land and to tighten the noose on the people in the southern countryside of Nablus.
