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<font size="1"><a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israel-grants-settlersmillions-to-monitor-palestinian-construction-in-west-bank/">https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israel-grants-settlersmillions-to-monitor-palestinian-construction-in-west-bank/</a>
</font><h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Israel Grants Settlers Millions to Monitor Palestinian Construction in West Bank</h1>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">January 1, 2021<br></div>
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<img src="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Demolition-Massafer-Yatta-678x455.jpg" alt="" title="Demolition-Massafer-Yatta" style="margin-right: 25px;" width="430" height="289">
Israeli forces carry out a demolition in the Massafer Yatta area. (Photo: via Twitter)
<p>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.</p>
<p>The Settlement Affairs Ministry published on Thursday the criteria
for settlement councils to gain access to the $6.2 million in funding,
Haaretz reported.</p>
<p>The councils will be able to buy drones, vehicles and electronic
monitoring equipment and pay the salaries of inspectors with the
funding.</p>
<p>Those inspectors will monitor Palestinian construction in Area C of the occupied West Bank, which is under full Israeli control.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Buildings constructed without an Israeli permit are regularly demolished by the military.</p>
<p>The funding will also go to erecting fences to close-off areas.</p>
<p>It is the first time settlement councils will have access to such funds as part of the state budget.</p>
<p>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”.</p>
<p>More than 400,000 Israelis live in settlement communities in the
occupied West Bank which are considered illegal under international law.</p>
<p><em>(The New Arab, PC, Social Media)</em></p>
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<center>(The Palestine Chronicle is a <a href="https://www.palestinechronicle.com/about/">registered</a> 501(c)3 organization, thus, all donations are tax deductible.)</center>
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