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| Settlements Violence Report LXXXI
15th June - 15th Aug 2005
On Thursday,4th Aug. Israel?s Housing Ministry proposed the building of 72 more
housing units in the settlement of Betar Ilit in the West Bank. In the
past year many proposals have been approved for further expansion of
Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank despite
requests by the international community to uphold its promise to freeze
settlement expansion. These steps are part of an effort to solidify
Israel?s hold of the greater Jerusalem area. |
Construction of the second section of the wall began in
the West Bank city of Qalqilya on Wednesday morning. This part of the
wall will be four kilometers long and 100 meters wide. 2000 dunams of
Palestinian land will be confiscated for the construction of the wall.
This land includes portions of olive tree field currently used by
Palestinian farmers. Parts of it will be destroyed for the wall?s
construction, while other areas will be on the Israeli side of the wall
and the farmers will not be able to access it. In some areas the wall
will extend 25 kilometers into the West Bank area, engulfing the
greater Ma?ale Adumim settlement. All entrances of Qalqilya remain closed and many
checkpoints were set up across the city on Wednesday morning. In one
checkpoint near Azoon, Palestinians waiting in line were said to have
been checked physically and asked to remove their clothing. Their
signatures and fingerprints were taken as well. Israeli forces reentered Tulkarm Wednesday morning and
closed all the entrances. They set up checkpoints inside the city
itself, in effect sequestering each neighborhood in the area. The
southern part of the city was the main focus of the Israeli forces. The
forces used loudspeakers to evacuate all the Palestinians from their
homes in order to search the houses. Doors were forcefully broken and
many household items were left damaged or in disarray. Some
Palestinians were arrested in the process, including Palestinian
National Council member Adnan Domeiri. All entrances around the Jenin area are closed in preparation for the withdrawal of four Israeli settlements in the area. In Hebron, the Israeli army beat a 17-year-old
Palestinian boy after stopping him on his way home. He was taken to the
hospital and is considered in serious condition. In another incident, a
23-year-old boy walking through his family?s land was beaten by
settlers who had claimed the land to be theirs. He is said to be
recovering in a local hospital.
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