MORE ILLEGAL SETLEMENTS MORE APARTHEID 

Israel to approve West Bank settlement, Palestinian building

JOSEF FEDERMAN
Wed, August 11, 2021

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's new government is set to grant its first major approval of West Bank settlement construction, but will also include a rare authorization of construction for Palestinian areas as well in the upcoming announcement, according to an Israeli security official.

The mixed messages appear to be aimed at bolstering the Palestinian Authority while also trying to blunt international opposition to Israeli settlement construction on occupied lands.

The official said that Israel next week is expected to formally authorize the construction of some 1,000 homes for Palestinians.


The bulk of those homes will be near Jenin, a city in the northern West Bank, he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity pending formal approval.

The construction is to take place in “Area C,” the parts of the occupied West Bank placed under full Israeli control under past peace accords. Palestinians in those areas have long said it is virtually impossible to get construction permits from Israeli authorities.

At the same time, Israel plans to authorize construction of 2,000 new settlement homes next week, the official said.

Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want to establish an independent state in the three areas.

The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlements illegal and obstacles to peace. Israel has also come under heavy international criticism for stifling Palestinian development in Area C.

Israel's new coalition government includes a number of hardline parties that support the settlements, and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett himself is a former leader of the settlement movement.

But Israel has come under American pressure to improve conditions for the Palestinians and to shore up the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which administers semi-autonomous areas in the West Bank.

The announcement came as CIA Director William Burns was in Israel for talks with top officials. There was no immediate U.S. or Palestinian reaction.

Palestinian dies a week after being shot by Israeli forces

Wed, August 11, 2021, 

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — A Palestinian man succumbed Wednesday to a gunshot wound suffered during clashes with Israeli forces last week in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said.

Dia al-Din Sabarini, 25, was shot in the stomach Aug. 3 during a raid by Israeli security forces in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported, citing the health ministry.

Sabarini was hospitalized in critical condition and died of his wounds Wednesday. Five other Palestinians were shot by Israeli troops during the incident.


In a statement, the Israeli army said troops operating in Jenin came under attack from gunfire, explosives, firebombs and rocks before soldiers returned fire at the attackers. The military reported that no soldiers were injured, but that their armored vehicles were damaged by gunfire.

Last month, Israeli troops opened fire on a car in the southern West Bank town of Beit Ummar, killing a 12-year-old as he and his family were driving. The killing sparked two days of protests in which another Palestinian was killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers.

Two other Palestinians were shot and killed in recent weeks near the West Bank town of Beita, which has seen repeated clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian protesters over the establishment of a nearby settlement outpost.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and has established dozens of settlements where nearly 500,000 settlers reside. The Palestinians want the West Bank as part of their future state and view the settlements as a major obstacle to resolving the conflict.