Israel seizes 1,200 hectares of Palestinian land in the Jordan Valley, the largest area in 30 years

According to a complaint, Israel has approved the declaration of 1,200 hectares of Palestinian land in the Jordan Valley as “state land”, the largest area annexed by the Israeli state since the signing of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians in 1993. Statement by Israeli NGO Peace Now.

According to the pacifist organization, the land confiscation was approved on June 25, but was made public this Wednesday. “Today it is clear that this conflict cannot be resolved without a political settlement that establishes a Palestinian state alongside Israel. However, the Israeli government chooses to make it difficult and thus distances us from the possibility of (achieving) peace and preventing bloodshed,” laments Peace Now.

The NGO explains that “the declaration of state land is one of the main methods by which the State of Israel seeks to strengthen its control over land in the occupied territories,” since these lands are no longer considered the private property of Palestinians and Israel. This prevents them from accessing and exploiting the lands, which it rents out exclusively to Israeli citizens. Peace Now reminds that many of the declared state territories were previously designated as “nature reserves” or “military zones,” which significantly restricted access to and use of these lands by Palestinians. In addition, the designation of these lands as state “creates territorial continuity between the settlements in the Jordan Valley (Yifrit and Masua) and the settlements at the eastern end of the mountain slope (Gitit and Maale Efraim).”

Peace Now attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for acting “against the interests of the Israeli people for the benefit of a handful of settlers who receive hundreds of hectares.” The far-right Smotrich, who heads the department that authorizes settlements, announced at the end of March the allocation of an additional 800 hectares of land in the Jordan Valley as state land, which is added to the 264 hectares approved on February 29 for the Israeli colonies of Maale Adumim and Kedar near Jerusalem.

In addition, the government body in charge of planning Israeli settlements announced this Monday the construction of another 6,016 homes in dozens of colonies (considered illegal under international law) in the West Bank, whose final approval will be decided in the coming days. The construction plans include an expansion of more than 1,000 units in the Gvat settlement, where there are currently only 60 homes, as well as the construction of a new neighborhood in the Yakir settlement, which will make it easier for Israel to annex land in the Palestinian territory.

From the beginning of 2024, a year that has broken all records, Israel has declared more than 2,300 hectares of land in the West Bank as state land, allowing it to expel the Palestinian population and extend its dominance over this occupied territory, where they live illegally more than half a million Jewish residents.

In addition to seizing territories in the West Bank, Israel has also continued military operations in the region, in addition to a large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip. This morning, Israeli troops killed four Palestinians in a drone airstrike on the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem, while a fifth civilian was killed in a special forces operation in Jenin in the northern West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

“Israeli Defense Forces aircraft attacked a terrorist cell in the Nur Shams area storing explosive devices,” the Israeli military said in a statement, quoted by EFE agency. For its part, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group said the dead were four of its fighters, whom it described as “heroic fighters” and assured that their deaths “would increase their determination to continue the path of jihad.”