The ambassador welcomed the indictment in early January of two Israelis over a firebombing in the occupied West Bank past year that killed a Palestinian couple and their toddler.
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The family of arrested 15-year-old Murad Ideis said the raid occurred around 2:00 am at their home in the Palestinian village of Beit Amra near Otniel.
Today almost 300,000 Palestinians live in Area C, while almost 360,000 Jewish settlers live in 135 settlements and 100 settlement outposts, which are illegal under worldwide law. This government and previous Israeli governments have repeatedly expressed their support for a negotiated two-state solution – a solution that would involve both mutual recognition and separation.
In an email sent to Reuters, COGAT, a unit of Israel’s Defence Ministry, said the political decision to seize the territory had been taken and “the lands are in the final stages of being declared state lands”.
The diplomatic skirmish comes as settlements for Israelis continue to be built in the West Bank, contrary to treaties and the recommendations of the European Union, a major trading partner with Israel.
The accusation of the Arab MKs, blaming Israel’s existence for Arab terror and war, somewhat echoes Wallstrom’s comments last November that provoked a firestorm of criticism, when she appeared to blame the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist attacks in Paris on “Palestinian frustration” with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Otniel on Tuesday morning, where he received a security briefing and paid a condolence call to the Meir family. “Netanyahu is being dragged by Naftali Bennett and begins a silent annexation of area C”, the group said, referring to the area of the occupied West Bank under full control of the Israeli military.
The World Bank estimated in 2013 that the cost of Israeli restrictions on Palestinians in Area C, many of which are settlement-related, cost the Palestinian economy $3.4 billion annually. It could potentially split the West Bank, cutting Palestinians off from East Jerusalem, which they seek for their capital. Mustafa was shot and killed by Israeli forces in Jerusalem, Oct. 12, 2015, after a stabbing attempt on border police officers, Israeli police said. About two-thirds of them are said by Israel to be attackers.
“Settlement businesses unavoidably contribute to Israeli policies that dispossess and harshly discriminate against Palestinians, while profiting from Israel’s theft of Palestinian land and other resources”, Arvind Ganesan, HRW’s director of the business and human rights division, said in a statement.
Sunday’s killing and another stabbing of a pregnant woman inside an Israeli settlement on Monday further boosted tensions after months of unrest, raising fears of an escalation in violence as well as a harsh Israeli crackdown on Palestinians.
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The technical move to change the status of the land, which has been farmed for decades by settlers, followed the conclusion of a Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria investigation into the land’s proper legal status under Israeli law. At least 146 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.
