Israel to confiscate West Bank lands

Israel confirmed Thursday that it plans to seize a large plot of fertile Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank near Jericho, a move expected to draw even more worldwide rebuke.

In August 2014, soon after Hamas militants kidnapped and killed three Jewish teenagers, Israel appropriated some 400 hectares (988 acres) in the Etzion settlement bloc near Bethlehem, a move Peace Now said was the biggest in 30 years.

Witnesses said several people were questioned about gunshots allegedly fired at Israeli settlers travelling in a vehicle on the main road near the illegal Avnei Hefetz settlement about a month ago.

Israel occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Six Day War and more than 500,000 Israeli settlers now live in the territory and in east Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro engaged in a rare exchange of rhetorical blows on Monday over policy toward the Palestinians.

Although the concerns expressed by Israel’s closest allies were partly cloaked in diplomatic language they struck a nerve in Israel, which is anxious to counter what it sees as growing attempts to isolate it over its policies toward Palestinians.

Palestinian mourners carry the body of Mustafa Adel al-Khatib, 18, during his funeral in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday. At least 146 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire.

Carter made his remark while promoting his book “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid”, the objective of which, by his own account, was to “help restart peace talks” between Israel and Palestine.

The entrance to the settlement of Kokhav HaShahar, in the central area of the occupied West Bank.

We join Peace Now in its criticism of the Israeli government’s reaction to the EU’s statement.

Settlement businesses benefit from unrestricted access to Palestinian land, water and receive government subsidies. A second Israeli woman, who is pregnant, was stabbed and wounded by another Palestinian teenage assailant Monday.

Over the same period, 25 Israelis have been killed in the ongoing violence.

The military ordered Palestinian labourers to leave their workplaces in some settlements as the violence spread from streets and bus stops in the West Bank and Israel to within the usually well-protected Israeli enclaves.

“To Israelis, who are understandably suspicious of Iran and anxious about Iran’s nefarious activities in other realms, we say the following: This new nuclear framework leaves the worldwide community united and better equipped to respond to other regional challenges – and to respond ‘without the looming threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, ‘ as Secretary Kerry said”, Shapiro said.