[News] Israel Grants Settlers Millions to Monitor Palestinian Construction in West Bank

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israel-grants-settlersmillions-to-monitor-palestinian-construction-in-west-bank/
Israel
Grants Settlers Millions to Monitor Palestinian Construction in West Bank
January 1, 2021
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Israeli forces carry out a demolition in the Massafer Yatta area. (Photo:
via Twitter)

Israel has granted illegal settlements more than $6 million to fund drones
and patrol units to monitor “unauthorized” Palestinian building in the
occupied West Bank.

The Settlement Affairs Ministry published on Thursday the criteria for
settlement councils to gain access to the $6.2 million in funding, Haaretz
reported.

The councils will be able to buy drones, vehicles and electronic monitoring
equipment and pay the salaries of inspectors with the funding.

Those inspectors will monitor Palestinian construction in Area C of the
occupied West Bank, which is under full Israeli control.

Palestinians living in Area C must acquire Israeli permission to build, but
such permits are near-impossible to get. Just 1.4 percent of requests were
approved between 2016 and 2018, according to official data.

Buildings constructed without an Israeli permit are regularly demolished by
the military.

The funding will also go to erecting fences to close-off areas.

It is the first time settlement councils will have access to such funds as
part of the state budget.

Under the arrangement, settlement councils will then report to an “Area C
situation room” to report to officials what Settlement Affairs Minister
Tzachi Hanegbi described as the “hostile takeover of land in Area C”.

More than 400,000 Israelis live in settlement communities in the occupied
West Bank which are considered illegal under international law.

*(The New Arab, PC, Social Media)*


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