Ramallah: A report in the Israeli Haaretz said that the Israeli regime has been using military zones in Jericho and Jordan Valley, as a pretense to expanding illegal colonies and outposts. The Haaretz confirmed that a shocking 99 per cent of the state lands have been used for colonization purposes, both for new colonies and outposts and for the expansion of existing colonies and outposts.
The daily said that the Israeli Civil Administration has in recent years earmarked 8,650 acres of land currently designated as military zones, to use them for colonial expansion.
Israeli occupation forces use the areas to fire weapons for testing and training, which has driven many Palestinians from the area.
Since the 70’s, Israel has seized more than one million dunums of Palestinian land in Jericho and the Jordan Valley areas for ‘military’ purposes.
The Israeli regime prevents Palestinians from construction in all areas classified as Area C and demolishes any Palestinian construction work in these areas.
Palestinians are also forbidden from cultivating their own land n these areas and prevented from allowing their sheep to graze in those areas.
“More than 6,000 colonists have moved into more than 36 colonies and outposts in the Jericho and Jordan Valley areas,” Majed Al Fityani, the governor of Jericho and Jordan Valley areas told Gulf News.
The Palestinian National Authority has slammed the Israeli regime’s excuse that the land was seized based on ‘security concerns’. The seizure of land is all about economics and has nothing to do with security,” he added.
Al Fityani said that Jericho and Jordan Valley based Israeli colonies make more than $600 million in net profit in agricultural enterprises and more than that amount in net profit from Dead Sea tourism, cosmetics and the health industry. “With the existence of those colonies, Israel is also fully controlling the underground water of the entire area,” he said.
