Report: Israel seized 99% of Area C in the West Bank

More than 99 percent of Area C has been confiscated by Israeli authorities to establish and expand Israeli settlements and closed military zones as well as nature reserves, the Department of Culture and Information in the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) revealed in a detailed report yesterday.

The report pointed to the recent official statements issued by Israel and the extent of its compliance with the Israeli ethnic cleansing on the ground and the imposition of full sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory.

The report stated that “Israel not only used militarisation and violence to intimidate the Palestinian people and separate the Gaza Strip from the rest of Palestinian people through its aggression on the Gaza Strip, but recruited its political and financial energies and resources to extend its control and hegemony over the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem through confiscation and theft of Palestinian land and the rapid expansion of settlements to seize the entire occupied Palestinian land before the demarcation of a future Palestine.”

“Israel has also recruited its officials to give misleading statements that serve its settlements project in spite of popular anger and condemnations of its twisted policies as a state which exercises organised terrorism and war crimes against humanity,” the report added.

International and Israeli reports revealed that, since the start of this month, the Israeli government has implemented a unilateral scheme to impose full sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian land taking advantage of international silence to destroy any chances for a settlement in the region.

The PLO’s report said that Israel steals the West Bank’s natural resources, especially in area C depriving the Palestinians of $3.5 billion annually while it also imposes restrictions on Palestinian construction there.

The report pointed to the significant increase in the Israeli settlements on Palestinian land by 240 per cent mainly in the settlements of Beitar Illit, Modi’in Illit and Immanuel. It noted that the Israeli land authority sold 2,300 housing units in the settlements established in the West Bank this year registering an increase of 866 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The report addressed the Israeli official political and ideological discourse saying it spreads irresponsible incitement and propaganda that explicitly reflects its rejection of the peaceful settlement with the Palestinians.

The department stressed in its report that these data and indicators confirm the serious collapse of the two-state solution.

It called for a stop in the Israeli injustice, violence and militarisation against the Palestinians and to identify a specific timeline to end the Israeli occupation.

It also demanded the United Nations issue a binding decision stipulates explicitly to end the occupation and build a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.