OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — On Saturday, a report
by the National Office for Land Defense and Settlement Resistance member Mediha
Al-Araj revealed the location of settlements and settler militias in the
amended general budget of the Israeli Occupation for the year 2024, Amad
reported.
اضافة اعلان
In the report , it was disclosed that the
Israeli government approved, last week, a supplementary budget of $8 billion,
to meet the needs of the brutal war waged by Israel on the Gaza Strip since
October 7. The Israeli Finance Minister Tzachi Hanegbi stated that the current
budget, approved by the Knesset in March of the previous year, is no longer
suitable for the evolving situation in Israel, indicating the occupation’s
entry into a war on the Strip.
Budgets
The budgets allocated for settlements in the
West Bank, including Jerusalem, are distributed in billions of shekels among
various ministries in the occupation’s government, such as the Ministry of
Defense, Civil Affairs, the Coordinator of Regional Affairs Office, as well as
the Ministries of Transportation, Housing, Knowledge, Heritage, and others.
However, the report attempts to shed light on those ministries led by ministers
from the Religious Zionist Party and the Jewish Power Party to strengthen their
position among the settlers.
The amended budget for the occupation
allocates additional budgets to the Israeli National Security Ministry, led by
Itamar Ben Gvir, the head of the extreme right-wing "Jewish Power"
party, during the aggressive war on the Strip, with a value of $510 million.
This is intended for what is called emergency situations and dealing with
combat situations. Therefore, the share goes towards establishing more than 600
armed security teams with long rifles and protective equipment as part of
Gvir's plan, which involves purchasing about 40,000 long firearms and rifles
and related equipment. The documents published indicate the purchase of 25,550
long firearms and rifles so far out of the approved 40,000 rifles for arming
the so-called Ben Gvir protection squads.
The documents also reveal the purchase of
over 5.5 million training and emergency-ready bullets, along with the
procurement of more than 20,000 protection kits, including helmets and
bulletproof vests, at a total cost of about $71 million. According to an
internal document of the ministry published by the "Calcalist'' economic
newspaper earlier this month, The office of the National Security Ministry,
directly subordinate to Gvir's authority, obtained $170 million, of which 633
million shekels will be allocated to establishing and arming hundreds of
security teams established after October 7,
The Settlement Ministry, headed by the
right-wing extremist minister Orit Struck from the Smotrich Party, had a
substantial share in the amended Israeli budget of 200 million shekels added to
the approximately 543 million shekels allocated to the ministry in the general
budget. This is for the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. The Finance
Ministry also submitted a request to the parliamentary finance committee to
approve the transfer of an additional amount of 200 million shekels to this
ministry. The distribution of this addition will be as follows: 90 million
shekels in cash, of which 75 million shekels will be allocated to settlement
outposts, specifically to the youth of the hills (Price Tag), and 15 million
shekels for social activity and accommodation in what the ministry calls rural
settlements. Additionally, 110 million shekels will be provided as a loan with
unspecified spending directions.
In this regard, the Israeli newspaper
"The Marker" pointed out that the transfer of the amount to the
settlement outposts was hidden from the public, as it did not appear in the
official statement on the topics discussed by the government.
It is clear that this policy, practiced
by Ben Gvir, will exacerbate tensions in the buffer zones between settlements
in general, particularly settlement outposts, and Palestinian villages and
towns in their vicinity. Armed settlers in the settlement outposts,
specifically, are no longer, as developments in the field indicate, limited to
firing in the air or at the feet when targeting Palestinian civilians but are
now "shooting with the intent to kill," as some Israeli media,
Israeli human rights organizations, and international testimonies report.
Gvir does not content himself with arming
the settlers and establishing terrorist militias in settlements and settlement
outposts, as well as so-called pastoral farms. He goes further by sending
messages to them through clear and explicit adoption of their practices. His
followers organize campaigns to assist imprisoned settlers convicted of
terrorist crimes against Palestinians, such as the terrorist Amiram Ben Uliel,
who was convicted of burning and killing the Dawabsheh family in the village of
Duma in July 2015.
Violence has escalated in the occupied
West Bank, reaching its highest levels in over 15 years this year. The
situation worsened under the brutal aggression on the Gaza Strip after October
7 when settlers and Israeli soldiers intercepted the funeral of three
Palestinians killed by settlers in a previous incident. This was one of over
170 attacks by armed settlers on Palestinians recorded by the UN in less than a
month since the events of October 7, resulting in the death of a significant
number of Palestinians, according to UN data.
Additionally, Jewish terrorist
organizations, sponsored by both the Finance Minister and the Settlement
Minister in the Army Ministry, expand their activities targeting Palestinians.
They exert pressure in various areas to force citizens, especially in Bedouin
and rural Palestinian communities, to migrate.
In another context related to budgets
allocated by the Israeli government for settlements and arming settlers, on
Sunday, the British newspaper "The Guardian" revealed the illegal
activities of an Israeli funding platform called "Israel Gives,"
directed towards residents in the United States. The platform collects
donations for the Israeli army and settlers in the occupied West Bank, pointing
out that this funding platform raises millions of dollars for illegal
settlements in the West Bank, settler militias, and units of the Israeli
Occupation Forces (IOF) currently operating in the Gaza Strip and the occupied
West Bank. Although legal experts confirm that some of these campaigns may be
illegal under US tax law, enforcing the law on donors supporting Israel is
rare. The funding revelation comes amid a growing humanitarian crisis resulting
from IOF attacks killing civilians in Gaza and campaigns in the US to enforce
laws preventing non-profit organizations from funding illegal settlements.
The newspaper identified at least 450
fundraising campaigns, including 240 campaigns initiated after October 7,
aiming to purchase tactical equipment and logistical support. The
beneficiaries, particularly the IOF and quasi-military units associated with
specific Israeli groups, include many settlement groups in the West Bank.
In another development related to
settlement activities, the Israeli occupation authorities focus on harsh war
conditions imposed in the city of Jerusalem. The Israeli Land Authority
published tenders on the 25 of this month for the construction of 1,839
settlement units in East Jerusalem. This intensification of settlement
activities during the war exploits the situation to impose more facts on the
ground.
Furthermore, the finance committee of the
Israeli municipality in Jerusalem approved an increase in the budget allocated
to the city for the next year to reach 6.2 billion shekels, an increase of 200
million shekels from the previous fiscal year. The new municipal budget
includes plans to enhance settlement construction in the occupied city, by
providing incentives to investors, paving roads around and within the occupied
city, as well as a plan to strengthen the settlement presence in the city.
Additionally, the budget primarily aims to reinforce Jewish settlements in East
Jerusalem rather than improving the lives of Palestinian residents.
In
the weekly violations documented by the National Bureau for the Defense of
Land, the incidents were as follows during the period covered in the report:
Jerusalem: IOF forced the citizen Hashem Sabah to demolish the expansion of his
house near the French Hill in Shuafat to avoid new fines and the high costs of
demolition, under the pretext of lack of a permit. The Ja'abees family was also
forced to demolish its commercial property in the village of Jabal Mukaber by
hand, after all attempts to license the commercial property, established six
years ago, were rejected. The final demolition order was issued last October.
Hebron: The seizure of hundreds of dunums of land owned by Palestinians
continues in the southern part of Hebron by settlers from the Beit Hagai
settlement. IOF also raided the homes of residents in the village of Susiya in
Masafer Yatta, seized their vehicles, and halted construction in their
structures, such as the Khalat Al-Amira School, which is still under
construction in Masafer Yatta. Additionally, IOF invaded the Sada Al-Thaghla
compound in Masafer Yatta, arrested the brothers Yahya and Ibrahim Jamal Awad
after settlers attacked homes in that area, threatening them with murder and
arrest to force them to leave their homes and lands.
Bethlehem: Settlers erected mobile homes "caravans" on lands in the
town of Nahalin in the Al-Hanjaleh area to control an area of more than 100
dunums. Others plowed lands in the village of Artas in the Jabal Abu Zeid area
south of the village. At the same time, settlers poured "firewater"
on the tent of the family of the citizen Muhammad Awad Al-Rushaida, consisting
of nine members, after settlers poured it using a drone while the family was
inside. The family managed to leave the tent, which was significantly damaged.
Settlers also expanded an agricultural road on the lands of Palestinians
between the city of Bethlehem and the town of Beit Jala, a length of 500m, to
expand the settlement outpost previously established in the area.
Nablus: Settlers cut down around 60 olive trees in the village of Jalud south
of Nablus on the land of the citizen Nizar Bassam Odeh in the entire sector
between Jalud and Qusra. The settlers also cut water pipes and damaged water
tanks used for agriculture. Additionally, settlers from the "Eli"
settlement fired live ammunition at the farmer Sabri Qarouti while he was
working on the farm west of the village, forcing him to leave his land. In
Froush Beit Dajan, IOF demolished eight residential and agricultural
structures, three of which date back to before the occupation in 1967. They
also demolished three agricultural ponds on the pretext of lacking permits.
Salfit: The Israeli occupation authorities issued a decision to seize and
expropriate lands in the town of Deir Istiya, covering an area of 31,886 dunums
in the southern part of the town, known as the “Al-Burayj and Khallet
Hadeideh" basins, for military purposes, according to the decision. The
objection period was set for 24 days, and the area is adjacent to the
settlement of Refafo," which is established on the lands of the towns of
Deir Istiya and Haris. Settlers from the "Refafo" settlement
bulldozed large areas, uprooted mature olive trees, and stole them from the
Ma'arid area south of Deir Istiya. Armed settlers attacked the brothers Hasan
and Mohammed Yusuf Salman while they were grazing their sheep in the
"Al-Iqraa" area north of the town of Deir Istiya. They also attacked
64 –year-old farmer Saeed Al-Qadi while he was grazing his sheep in the same
area. It is worth noting that the settlers established a settlement outpost in
the Hareiqat Yasin area north of Deir Istiya last June, naming it "Hafat
Oben Haiber," and since then, attacks by settlers on farmers in the area
have continued.
The
Jordan Valley: IOF arrested the brothers Muhammad and
Adi Qadri Dragma from the residents of Ain al-Hilweh while they were grazing
their family's cows in the natural pastures east of the northern Jordan Valley.
Settlers also detained dozens of cows owned by the Dragma family. They also
detained the citizen Hussein Yusuf Bisharat while he was grazing his sheep in
the same area in the northern Jordan Valley.
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