Occupied Jerusalem - SANA
A month after the end of the Israeli occupation, the construction of a concrete and steel wall above and below the ground in the north and east of the Gaza Strip to tighten its continuous siege for more than 15 years, which turned the Strip into the largest prison in the world in which more than two million Palestinians suffer difficult conditions, the occupation announces its intention to establish a new settlement in the east of the Strip To strangle him geographically and plunder his water and agricultural resources.
The new settlement constitutes the nucleus of hundreds of settlement units that the occupation plans to establish in the coming years and comes as a consecration of Judaization and settlement, which is rapidly escalating in an attempt to create new facts on the ground. The occupation continues to bulldoze and destroy facilities and agricultural lands on the outskirts of the besieged Strip.
In a statement to SANA reporter, Mohsen Abu Ramadan, director of the Arab Center for Agricultural Development, indicated that the settlement is a continuation of the steel concrete wall that extends from Beit Hanoun in the north to Rafah in the south, with a length of 65 km, a height of 6 to 10 meters, and a depth of 25 meters. Access to their lands within the framework of the ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people, indicating that the occupation aims to establish the settlement to increase the area of areas that prevent Palestinian farmers from accessing, which reaches more than a thousand meters.
Human rights researcher Hussein Hammad pointed out that the occupation prevented the Palestinians from cultivating 35 percent of their lands, which was a source of income for more than 20 thousand farmers, explaining that the occupation turned the eastern areas of the Gaza Strip into death traps for farmers, and that the establishment of this settlement is a dangerous step that also aims to establish a settlement bloc in The perimeter of the Gaza Strip to destroy all elements of environmental and terrestrial life after the occupation completed the construction of the steel concrete wall.
Hammad explained that the occupation carried out 664 attacks on farmers in the east of the Gaza Strip during the past year, destroying and razing 16,600 dunums of land that were planted with different types of crops, causing heavy losses to farmers and their loss of livelihood for their families.
Environmental affairs specialist, Tawfiq al-Banesh, indicated that the settlement is added to a settlement belt consisting of 50 settlements in the vicinity of the Gaza Strip, which has, over the past years, been a tool for killing the environment, wildlife and animal life, and a dangerous source of pollution, especially in the groundwater, where these settlements plunder the Strip’s water, causing its depletion and the loss of the aquifer, which constitutes The only water source in the Strip, in addition to the pollution and salinity of 97 percent of the remaining water, which has caused catastrophic consequences for the health and environmental sectors.
Al-Banish indicated that the occupation deliberately polluted the land and marine environment of the Strip and used multiple and dangerous tools in blatant violation of all international covenants and laws, calling for urgent international intervention to stop this destruction.
Member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Maryam Abu Daqqa confirmed that the occupation turned the Gaza Strip into a large prison surrounded by concrete walls, settlements and military watchtowers used to kill children, women and farmers, as the scene of the occupation’s crimes is repeated daily, pointing out that all the occupation’s attempts to restrict the Strip will not be able to break the will And the steadfastness of the Palestinian people who continue their struggle and resistance until they achieve their rights of return, self-determination, and the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
In turn, member of the Political Bureau of the Palestinian People's Party, Talaat Al-Safadi, explained that the occupation continues to deepen the environmental, health and economic crisis in the Gaza Strip through the use of all internationally prohibited tools in flagrant violation of international laws and covenants, noting that more than 2.1 million in the Gaza Strip live in tragic conditions under deliberate The occupation has destroyed all the basics of their lives, as unemployment, poverty and food insecurity have risen seriously, while the international community and its institutions are silent and content with issuing timid statements condemning the criminal practices of the occupation against the Palestinian people.
Mohammed Abu Shabab
