Occupied Jerusalem – Zaytoun News
The Israeli occupation authorities have imposed special permits on residents of the Khalayleh neighborhood and the villages of Beit Iksa and Nabi Samwil, northwest of occupied Jerusalem, restricting their movement to and from their villages.
This step deepens the policy of isolation, movement restrictions, and land control.
Based on this decision, anyone without permits will be barred from passing through the military checkpoint at the entrances to the three villages, stressing that such step will deepen the isolation of the said communities and tighten Israel’s control.
The villages already face near-total isolation due to the separation Wall, checkpoints and military gates surrounding them. This has deprived them of natural urban expansion. Residents are prohibited from building new homes or bringing in essential supplies without special permits. This has led to a decline in population growth.
About a month ago, hard-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced his approval of the construction of thousands of colonial units within the colonial plan in the E1 area, east of occupied Jerusalem.
Such move would undermine the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state on the ground, undermine its geographical and demographic unity, isolate Jerusalem from its surroundings, sever the geographical and demographic continuity between Jerusalem and Palestinian communities, and expand the borders of the occupation municipality by annexing the Ma’ale Adumim colonial bloc.
The village of Beit Iksa is home to approximately 2,000 residents and covers an area of approximately 9,000 dunams.
The village of Nabi Samwil covers around 3,500 dunums, with only 1,050 dunums remaining for the residents after the occupation seized the largest part of it. Only 300 residents live in it.
The Khalayleh neighborhood has some 650 residents living in on roughly 4,000 dunums, surrounded by four colonies that encroach upon its land.
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