Israel bans Palestinians from West Bank settlements after 2 stabbing attacks

The extent of the area to be expropriated is second only to the 939 acres of lands west of Bethlehem that were announced by the government as “state land” in August 2014.

The appropriation, first reported by Israel’s Army Radio, covers 154 hectares (380 acres) in the Jordan Valley close to Jericho, an area where Israel already has many settlement farms built on land Palestinians seek for a state.

“Settlement businesses unavoidably contribute to Israeli policies that dispossess and harshly discriminate against Palestinians, while profiting from Israel’s theft of Palestinian land and other resources.” said Human Rights Watch, Business Director, Arvind Ganesan. The settlements are illegal under global law and the worldwide community opposes them, saying their expansion undermines prospects of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Israeli authorities on Monday demolished three Palestinian-owned commercial stores in Kharbatha al-Misbah, a village located to the west of Ramallah, according to local sources.

The HRW report also cited the World Bank’s estimation that the Palestinian economy lost $3.4 billion annually due to Israeli restrictions on Palestinian businesses in parts of the West Bank under Israeli control as part of the 1993 Oslo accords.

In his speech on Monday, Shapiro said: “We are concerned and perplexed by Israel’s strategy on settlements”.

“The EU expresses its commitment to ensure that – in line with worldwide law – all agreements between the State of Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967”, the resolution reads.

A Palestinian attacker stabbed and wounded a pregnant Israeli woman in the West Bank before being shot, Israeli officia…

The Israeli foreign ministry said the European Union ministers had “toned down” their statement after diplomatic efforts by Netanyahu and the ministry.

“These most recent Israeli crackdowns have forced us to be out of work for months to come, which affects our livelihood and our ability to raise our families”, Swaiti said.

The U.S. ambassador complained that new “settler outposts are being legalized despite earlier pledges to the United States not to do so, while routine, administrative demolition of Palestinian structures continues”.

WAFA said Abbas explained the latest developments in the political arena and the Israeli violations against the Palestinian people to the delegation. At least 141 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since mid-September.

The accusation of the Arab MKs, blaming Israel’s existence for Arab terror and war, somewhat echoes Wallstrom’s comments last November that provoked a firestorm of criticism, when she appeared to blame the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist attacks in Paris on “Palestinian frustration” with Israel.