Ramallah: Israel will soon start the construction of a six meter high concrete siege structure inside the old town of Hebron to secure a shortcut and safe praying passage for the colonists. In doing so, it will connect residents of the colony of Karyat Araba’a and five other outposts directly with the Ebrahimi Mosque.
The Israeli Military has already seized large areas of lands east of the Ebrahimi Mosque, cancelled the ownership documents of Palestinian private landowners in the area and handed military seizure orders to many Palestinians.
In an interview with Gulf News, Emad Hamdan, who heads the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee, said that the most serious issue in the construction of the siege is the Israeli plans to take over the Al Rajabi Building in Al Salaymah Alley. The Al Rajabi building is a strategic building covering an area of 3,500 square meters on the eastern side of the Ebrahimi Mosuqe.
“If Israel takes over this building, the building itself will be a colony outpost connecting Karyat Araba’a and five other colony outposts with the Ebrahimi Mosque,” said Hamdan.
The Al Rajabi building has long been a key target for Israeli colonists who took it over once before. The Palestinian owners of the building applied to an Israeli court which ruled in favour of the Palestinians and ordered the eviction of the Israeli colonists. The Israeli military, however, declared the building a military zone and deployed soldiers in it. The rebuffed and furious colonists conducted a major ‘price tag’ campaign in which they burned houses and fired on the Palestinian owners at night. As a result of the use of fake documents, dirty tricks and claims by colonists that they had already bought the land, the Israeli Central Court has now ordered the building be handed to the Israeli colonists without even reviewing the documents (including ownership documents) the Palestinians presented. “We will appeal against the court’s unfair and completely biased verdict,” Emad Hamdan said. “The seizure of this building will be a grave danger to Hebron’s old town.”
He said that taking over this building will also initially make 65 Palestinian families of Hebron’s old town homeless.
The old town of Hebron, which covers only one square kilometre in the centre of the city, is a serious concern for Palestinians who argue the Israelis are taking over it step by step.
“A total of 512 shops in the old town in Hebron have already been sealed off under direct Israeli military orders, with 1,200 other shops sealed off by their owners as the 18 entrances of the old town have been sealed,” said Hamdan.
The old town in Hebron was previously the most active market place in the southern areas of the West Bank and visitors from around the West Bank used to visit it for shopping.
“A total of 101 Israeli military checkpoints currently spread through the old town of Hebron in a well designed plan to force all the Palestinians into the area outside it,” he said. “The most aggressive Israeli soldiers, who do not give time to second thoughts before opening fire, are deployed on those checkpoints.”
“Palestinian residents of Hebron are currently not allowed to put a foot in the biggest parts of the old town after the Israelis have turned them into outposts,” he said.
Note: these are some picturesof the old town of Hebron showing some of the closed shops, the Israeli spreading checkpoings and Hebron old town 8 picture showing the Al Rajabi building with an israeli soldier on top of the building and Palestinians in front of the building. Pictures by Nasouh Nazzal.