Palestine Information Center – 06/01/2014
RAMALLAH — The land research center in Bethlehem said that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) had seized 14,204 dunums of Palestinian lands in 2013 in the occupied territories of Jerusalem and the West Bank and registered them in the names of Jewish settlers, settlement groups and companies.
In a report, the research center stated that during last year the IOA had demolished 371 Palestinian-owned facilities and structures and issued demolition orders against 510 others in addition to the demolition of 246 homes accommodating 1,200 Palestinian citizens, including 650 children.
The center noted that the IOA issued demolition orders against 3,131 homes during the reporting year.
According to the report, the IOA and its settlers under military protection uprooted and destroyed 19,083 Palestinian-owned fruitful trees in different areas of the West Bank.
The IOA had also finished the building of 625 settlement units, approved the construction of 7,000 units and declared plans to build 25,000 others.
In a related context, Palestinian specialist in settlement affairs Khaled Ma’ali stated on Sunday that the Israeli commander of the central region Nitzan Alon had given orders to turn the illegal outpost of Brochan into an official settlement under the jurisdiction of the regional settlement council, pointing out that Alon had already declared the building of 550 new housing units in this colony.
Ma’ali added that Palestinian farmers and eyewitnesses reported that settlement construction is already in the works in this outpost.
He noted that the name of this settlement is derived from the Palestinian village Bruqin and the settlers made changes to the real name in order to delude themselves into believing that they have a historical claim on the area.