Incessant land theft in West Bank erodes myth of peace 

BEIRUT – On December 18, the Land of Israel Lobby introduced a new bill to the Israeli Knesset titled “Israel’s Security,” which seeks to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state through the transfer of land. The Israel Hayom newspaper reported that after October 7, 2024, Israel will not allow Palestinian fighters to position themselves on its borders and endanger the “security” of its citizens, as they put it.

Meanwhile, the Hebrew Channel 14 has quoted Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich as saying he plans to confiscate about 24,000 dunams of the West Bank in 2025.

A dunam equals a thousand square meters. 

Smotrich stated that there will never be what he described as an “Arab terrorist state” that threatens the existence of “Israel”.

In parallel, the Mondoweiss revealed that the settlement file in the occupied West Bank is underway amid an extreme right-wing government and a supportive international climate, especially with Trump’s re-election. Mondoweiss added that Smotrich had previously called for “wiping entire Palestinian towns off the map,” and that the Palestinian people “should not exist.”

For long, the occupation entity has obstructed the establishment of a geographically connected Palestinian state through a network of bridges and tunnels that allow settlers to move separately from the Palestinians while terrorizing the Palestinians to expel them from their indigenous lands.

According to the Anti-Wall and Settlement Commission, since October 7 last year the occupation regime has seized more than 50,000 dunams of the West Bank’s lands, in addition to demolishing nearly 500 homes and facilities. 

The commission pointed out the continuation of demolitions and forced displacement, especially in Bedouin population centers, expanding the scope of military checkpoints and erecting iron gates in various areas of the West Bank. 

The West Bank area constitutes about 21% of the historical Palestine. It includes 11 governorates, the largest of which is Hebron, followed by Ramallah and Al-Bireh.

It is called the “West Bank” because it is located west of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. It is the Palestinian land that was annexed to Jordan at the Jericho Conference in 1951, and constituted the remaining part of Palestine that the Zionists did not seize during 1948, including East Jerusalem. 

During the 1967 war, the enemy occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and displaced about half a million Palestinians. The Security Council issued Resolution 242 in November 1967 calling on Israel to withdraw and for the refugees to return to their homes.

Then in 1988, Jordan decided to sever legal, administrative and financial ties at the request of the Palestine Liberation Organization as the West Bank was no longer part of Jordan. However, religious endowments remained linked to Jordan.

In 1987, the “First Intifada” or the so-called “Stone Children’s Intifada” broke out until 1991, when international parties sought to hold the “Madrid Peace Conference” followed by the Oslo Accords that were held between 1993 and 1995. After the signing of the Oslo Accords and the formation of the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank remained subject to the dominance of the occupation, settlement policies, and economic dependence.

The Oslo Accords stipulated the formation of the Palestinian Authority as an administrative entity whose mission is to manage the affairs of the Palestinians and control their security and civil affairs in the areas subject to their self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza for a transitional period of 5 years.

According to the agreement, the lands of the West Bank were divided into areas subject to Palestinian sovereignty and others subject to “joint Palestinian-Israeli sovereignty”, in addition to areas directly subject to “Israeli security sovereignty”, including the major settlement blocs. 

During the Second Intifada that broke out in 2000, with the escalation of armed operations by the Palestinian resistance behind the Green Line or inside what became known as the Israeli depth, the occupation regime began in 2002 to build a separation wall, 85% of which lies inside the West Bank. 

The wall contributed to tightening the siege on the Palestinians and impoverishing them. In addition, more than 700 barriers were erected inside the West Bank, including 140 checkpoints that impose harsh restrictions on more than 70,000 Palestinians who hold Israeli work permits on a daily basis. 

The West Bank’s economy generally depends on financial grants, which come from what are known as the countries supporting “the peace process between Palestine and Israel.” It is subject to the financial laws imposed by the Israeli regime under the Oslo Accords. The settlement policy also restricts investment opportunities due to the severing of ties to Palestinian land, in addition to controlling border crossings, customs revenues, and trade.