Mohammed Braijeyeh, the spokesman of Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Bethlehem, said that the Israeli forces handed notifications for the Palestinian owners in the Al-Khader village, to the south of Bethlehem, declaring them as state lands. Braijeyeh said that the order was signed by the commander of Israeli Army in West Bank
According to the order, “the lands will be used until Dec. 31, 2012 for military purposes and fighting terrorism.”
Braijeyeh said that the order is “an Israeli pretext to annex the lands to Efrat.”
He added that the Israeli army warned the Palestinian owners from entering the confiscated lands.
Efrat, with around 9,000 residents, is the largest settlement in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc.
The bloc is one of the West Bank’s settlement blocs that all Israeli governments have said they want to retain under any final-status agreement with the Palestinians.
Braijeyeh said that the confiscation is a violation of an Israeli commitment to the US administration that it will not confiscate Palestinian lands to expand settlements in Palestinian territories.
