Israel rejects Palestinian appeal over confiscated land

The Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal filed by residents of the occupied West Bank village of Al-Nabi Elyas over Israel’s confiscation of 100 dunams (0.1 square kilometres) of Palestinian land, Israeli radio reported today.

According to the Arabic-language Voice of Israel station, the court ruled yesterday that residents of Al-Nabi Elyas in the district of Qalqilya could not prove ownership of land which had been seized to build a road.

The court claimed that the road, whose construction is expected to begin in January, would benefit both Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the area.

The ruling added that if Palestinians were able to prove ownership of the land after the confiscation, they would be allowed to demand compensation.

The decision from the Supreme Court comes as the Israeli Knesset approved a preliminary reading of a bill which would retroactively legalise settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, which are currently deemed illegal under both Israeli and international law, even those built on privately owned Palestinian land.

According to the Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ), 97 per cent of Al-Nabi Elyas lands are located in Area C, the 60 per cent of the occupied West Bank under full Israeli military control.

According to ARIJ, Al-Nabi Elyas “has been subjected to numerous Israeli confiscations for the benefit of the various Israeli objectives, demonstrated by the construction of Israeli settlements, and bypass roads on the village territories,” with nearly 44 per cent of the village’s lands having been confiscated to build the illegal Israeli settlement of Alfei Menashe.