RAMALLAH: Israelis occupiers have seized control of a mountain near the West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday, a Palestinian official has said.
Ghassan Daghlas, the Palestinian Authority official monitoring settler activity in the northern West Bank, claimed dozens of occupiers arrived at the village of Jaloud to take control of the mountain. The mountain’ size is estimated to be around 500 dunams (500,000 square meters).
Daghlas claimed the occupiers had installed four mobile homes on the mountain and feared they may eventually transform the area into a new settlement near Jaloud.
The issue of settlements has been a sticking point in the resumption of peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
The peace process stalled when Israel launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip in December 2008.
Meanwhile, Israeli police have banned a Palestinian expert on Israeli settlement activity from traveling abroad for six months.
Khalil Tafakji told Arab News that officers raided his Jerusalem home on Wednesday night and handed him a warrant.
He claimed the decision was part of efforts to prevent Palestinian experts from talking about Israel’s occupation policies.
He added the ban also came as a result of lectures he made in Arab, Islamic and European capitals about the country’s policies against Jerusalem.
"It seems that Israel does not want anyone, excluding itself, to speak about Jerusalem," Tafakji said.
He said that the move came in accordance with the 2010 plan Israel put in place to “Judaize the humans and stones in Jerusalem.”
