Israeli bulldozers Wednesday continued to raze Palestinian land close to Sinjil town, north of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, according to local sources. They said that Israeli occupation forces continued digging a tract of 25 donums of land belonging to the Palestinian villagers for the third consecutive day, laying the groundwork for the expansion of the nearby encroaching colonial settlement of Givat Haroeh. In late February, the Israeli occupation authorities advanced a plan to legalize nine colonial settlement outposts, including Givat Haroeh, and construct some additional 10,000 settler units in West Bank colonial settlements. As part of the plan, the occupation authorities envisage connecting Givat Haroeh with four settlements in the area. Israel uses the Jewish nationalist name ‘Judea and Samaria’ to refer to the occupied West Bank to reinforce its bogus claims to the territory and to give them a veneer of historical and religious legitimacy. There are almost over 800,000 Israeli settlers living in colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel’s nation-state law that passed last July stated that building and strengthening the settlements is a ‘national interest.’
Source: En – Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA