Israel’s violent land-thieves have set sights on even more of the West Bank

A caravan in area B, November 2024

The Haaretz lead editorial on 25 December 2024:

Supporters of annexation are no longer making do with Area C of the West Bank – that is, the part assigned to full Israeli control by the Oslo Accords. The success of the theft enterprise in Area C has increased their appetite, and they are constantly seeking to expand to other areas.

For some time now, the movement to steal Palestinian lands has also been setting its sights on Area B, the part of the West Bank under Palestinian civilian control but Israeli security control. As in their takeover of Area C, when it comes to expanding into Area B, the settlers see the diplomatic agreements signed by Israel as binding for Palestinians only.

Thus the settlers steal land, build on it, and Israel then legalizes outposts in Area C, thereby completely ignoring the Oslo Accords and their appendices. But when Palestinian residents of the West Bank try to build and live even outside Area C – where Israel almost never authorizes Palestinian construction – the settlers scream that the agreements are being violated and demand that Israel halt the construction.

Al-Malha is a new community that the Palestinians have built over the last five years. It was built in a section of Area B that was transferred to the Palestinian Authority, known as the “Agreed-Upon Reserve”, under the 1998 Wye agreement on condition that it be used as a nature reserve. According to the agreement, as in the rest of Area B, there aren’t supposed to be any Jewish settlements in the area, and though the power to build or demolish homes rests with the PA, it promised in exchange not to build there. But in practice, a new community was set up there.

The “Agreed-Upon Reserve,” is a section of Area B that was transferred to the Palestinian Authority under the 1998 Wye agreement.

In June, the Netanyahu government and the settlers decided to effectively expropriate the power to enforce building regulations in that area from the PA, on the grounds that the construction violated the Wye agreement. Construction of the town was halted, and around two weeks ago Israel demolished Palestinian buildings in the area. It thereby also violated the Wye agreement.

Meanwhile, the settlers have built five outposts in the area, all of them in Area B. One of them, Makneh Avraham, is particularly violent. This new outpost is inhabited by several young men who terrorize the Palestinian families living nearby. “The settlers beat up my son twice,” said the father of one of the last Palestinian families remaining in the area.

“After that, they started to come to our house, and once, two of them pretended to be from the army and searched it.” Three weeks ago, a group of settlers torched a grain storehouse belonging to the family. This outpost, unlike many others, has been periodically evacuated by Israel’s Civil Administration in the West Bank. But immediately after the evacuation concludes, the settlers come back – a ritual familiar from Area C.

The demolition of Palestinian buildings in an area that Israel has until now refrained from interfering with, coupled with the establishment of new outposts, shows that annexation has begun creeping into Area B as well. This is a dangerous development. It threatens the Palestinians living there and accelerates Israel’s descent into a thuggish apartheid state that has removed itself from the family of nations.

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