News / Palestine

Israel set to expand settlement activities in Jordan Valley

Sunday, 08 March 2015 8:56 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 10 March 2015 12:32 PM ]

Israeli security forces stand guard during clashes with Palestinian youths from the Jalazoun refugee camp (unseen), on the road at the entrance of Beit El settlement, north of Ramallah, on February 20, 2015. © AFP

The Israeli military has reportedly cancelled the status of a training zone in the Jordan Valley in yet another attempt to further expand the regime’s illegal settlement activities in the area.

Israeli media reported on Sunday that in mid January, the military ordered to reduce the size of the Firing Zone 912 to allow the expansion of the nearby Ma’aleh Adumim settlement.

The area, which was declared a firing zone more than 40 years ago, covers approximately 150 dunams (about 37 acres).

It extends from Ma’aleh Adumim, located east of al-Quds (Jerusalem) to the Dead Sea in the east and Umm Daraj in the south.

Israeli officials have already unveiled plans for the construction of 88 settler units in the area, called Nofei Adumim.

The Israeli military has been demolishing Palestinian homes in firing zones in the occupied West Bank, drawing strong condemnation from international rights groups.

Over 560 Palestinian homes have been destroyed in the occupied West Bank so far this year.

Israel is facing widespread global condemnation over its settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian lands.

The presence and continued expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine have created a major obstacle in the way of efforts to establish peace in the Middle East.

More than half a million Israelis live in more than 120 settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, including East al-Quds, in 1967.

The Israeli settlements are considered to be illegal by the United Nations and most countries because the territories were captured by Israel in the war in 1967 and are thus subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.

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