Palestinian-owned land in Jerusalem to be seized by Israel

Israel moves to link W.Bank settlement to Jerusalem
24 Aug 2005 14:17:12 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Israel has issued orders to seize
Palestinian-owned land to link a main Jewish settlement in the
occupied West Bank to Jerusalem, officials said on Wednesday, a step
that could isolate Palestinians from the city.

An Israeli government spokesman said orders were issued to seize four
Palestinian-owned tracts of land around Maale Adumim, the largest
Jewish settlement in the West Bank, last Thursday, as Israel was at
the height of its withdrawal from the occupied Gaza Strip.

The planned Maale Adumim section of the barrier Israel is building in
the West Bank has raised alarm in Washington because of Israel's
stated intention to build new homes in Maale Adumim joining it to
Jerusalem, 8 km (5 miles) away.

By looping in the enclave, Israel would effectively seal Palestinians
off from east Jerusalem, which they want as their capital. Israel
considers all of the holy city its own eternal capital, a claim not
recognised internationally.

"This is consistent with Israel's tendency to expand Jewish
settlements in the West bank to 'make it up' to the settlement
movement for the evacuation of settlements in Gaza," said Palestinian
Planning Minister Ghassan al-Khatib.

The Palestinian Authority has accused Israel of trying to parlay the
Gaza pullout into a permanent hold on much of the West Bank and has
condemned the barrier being built in the occupied territory as a land
grab.

Israel calls the planned 600-km (370 mile) network of concrete
barricades and razor-wire fences a bulwark against suicide bombers who
have spearheaded a Palestinian uprising that erupted in 2000.

The World Court has ruled the barrier illegal because it is built on
land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians seek
statehood in all of Gaza and the West Bank.

The United States, chief patron of a peace "road map", has said Israel
can expect to keep West Bank settlement blocs under a peace deal. But
it has also condemned Israel's failure to abide by its road map
obligation to freeze settlement building.

Adam Avidan, spokesman for Israel's military-run Civil Administration
in the West Bank, said Palestinian landowners were given a tour of the
fence route near Maale Adumim on Tuesday and have a week to file court
appeals against the expropriation.

Israel's Supreme Court has found in favour of several such challenges,
ordering changes to the West Bank barrier route.

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