Palestinian and international rejection of the occupation’s plan to separate Jerusalem from Bethlehem

Occupied Jerusalem - SANA

The village of Beit Safafa, which is located southeast of occupied Jerusalem, is the link between the city and the rest of the West Bank, as the Israeli occupation seized more than 60 percent of its area and besieged it with settlements from all sides, the most recent of which was its announcement of a plan to establish 1257 settlement units on its lands with the aim of separating the Holy City from Bethlehem. Which was met with widespread Palestinian and international rejection, as this robs the Palestinians of their rights and lands and violates the United Nations resolutions regarding the illegality of settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The United Nations envoy to the Middle East, Nikolai Mladenov, reiterated the assertion that the establishment of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories violates international law and undermines the establishment of the Palestinian state, while the Commissioner for Foreign Policy in the European Union, Josep Borrell, expressed the Union's concern about the announcement by "Israel" of establishing settlement units between occupied Jerusalem and Beit Flesh again demanding an end to all Israeli settlement operations in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Borrell stressed that the European Union’s position on Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories is unchanged, as all settlement operations are illegal under international law and undermine any opportunity for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The Italian Foreign Ministry expressed its deep concern about the establishment of new settlements in occupied Jerusalem, stressing that settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories is a flagrant violation of international law and undermines the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that is geographically connected.

In a statement to SANA correspondent, Muhammad Elyan from the village of Beit Safafa said that the occupation seized his 32 dunums of land and all the lands located in the vicinity of the village in order to expand a settlement established on its lands by establishing 1257 settlement units in addition to 300 units established by the occupation during the past months in the village Indicating that the settlement and Judaization operations divided the lands of Beit Safafa into five parts, and a settlement bypass road was built in the middle of Al-Qirba after the seizure of 300 dunums of Palestinian lands with the aim of linking the settlements of southern Jerusalem with its north.

Spokesman for the Palestinian Presidency, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, indicated that the occupation is exploiting the absolute support of the American administration to it in order to expand the settlement operations and seize more Palestinian lands to undermine any opportunity for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, stressing that this support will not change the fact that the settlements are illegal and violate decisions International legitimacy.

For his part, Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said that the occupation has recently escalated settlement operations to impose a new reality on the ground before US President Donald Trump leaves the White House, indicating that the government will take all possible measures to stop these new Israeli colonial settlement plans that would separate Jerusalem from Bethlehem. .

In turn, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs clarified that the occupation’s announcement of its intention to establish 1257 new settlement units in southeast occupied Jerusalem aims to link settlements in the area with each other, leading to separating Jerusalem from its surroundings, calling on the international community to assume its responsibilities and work to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its practices and crimes against the Palestinians, their land and property. .

The Secretary-General of the Palestinian People's Party, Bassam Al-Salihi, indicated that the establishment of 1257 settlement units southeast of Jerusalem is part of a settlement scheme aimed at seizing the remainder of Jerusalem, as the city is surrounded by settlements from all sides, in implementation of the so-called "deal of the century" and the colonial annexation plan that It aims to seize Jerusalem and cut off geographical contact with the rest of the West Bank to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Al-Salihi stressed that the intensification of Judaization and settlement operations, home demolitions and the ongoing settler incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque aim to liquidate the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem, pointing out that the coming days and weeks will witness an escalation of the settlement war and Judaization in light of the Trump administration's absolute support for the Israeli occupation, which requires the international community to stop the policy of silence and forcing the occupation. To stop his practices and crimes.

Jerusalem affairs specialist Fakhri Abu Dhiab stated that, in addition to the plan of 1257 settlement units, the occupation announced its intention to seize 28 homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem, threatening to displace 80 families of 400 members as part of his plan to establish settlement outposts in the heart of Sheikh Jarrah and besiege Jerusalem with settlements within the framework of The process of comprehensive Judaization that has escalated recently as a result of American support for settlement and Judaization.

The director of the Jerusalem International Center, Hassan Khater, indicated that the occupation had previously established 2,400 settlement units in Beit Safafa in 2014, pointing out that the establishment of 1257 new settlement units would lead to the seizure of what remained of the village’s lands, the displacement of its people, the complete seizure of Jerusalem, and the falsification of its history and civilization.

The specialist in the field of settlement, Jamal Jumaa, explained that the occupation is besieging occupied Jerusalem with the Apartheid Wall, with a length of more than 181 km, and since the beginning of this year, he announced the establishment of 17,000 settlement units in the city and the seizure of large areas of Palestinian land while he is implementing a plan to separate the south of the city from the rest of the occupied West Bank. As Beit Safafa is the only geographical corridor of Jerusalem with it from the southeast.