JERUSALEM: Israel has approved a new settlement on a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, its far-right finance minister said on Wednesday.
Bezalel Smotrich, who also heads civil affairs at the defense ministry, said his office had “completed its work and published a plan for the new Nahal Heletz settlement in Gush Etzion,” a bloc of settlements south of Jerusalem.
All of Israel’s settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, are considered illegal under international law, regardless of whether they have Israeli planning permission.
“No anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist decision will stop the development of settlements,” Smotrich, who lives in a settlement, posted on X.
“We will continue to fight against the dangerous project of creating a Palestinian state by creating facts on the ground.”
The Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now denounced the plan, calling it a “wholesale attack” on an area “renowned for its ancient terraces and sophisticated irrigation systems, evidence of thousands of years of human activity.”
The approval also comes at a time of heightened tensions in the West Bank and east Jerusalem over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, which has been raging since October 7.
Over the years, dozens of unauthorized settlements have sprung up in the West Bank.
Excluding east Jerusalem, some 490,000 Israeli settlers now live in the territory, alongside some three million Palestinians.
Far-right parties in Israel’s governing coalition have pressed for an acceleration of settlement expansion.
The new settlement was approved a day after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, another hard-liner, drew global condemnation when he joined thousands of Jews to pray at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in annexed east Jerusalem, where Jewish prayer is banned.
The Nahal Heletz settlement, which received preliminary approval along with four others in June, lies between Gush Etzion and the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem.
Peace Now said it will flank houses in the Palestinian village of Battir, a world heritage site known for its stepped agricultural terraces, vineyards and olive groves.
“These actions are not only fragmenting Palestinian space and depriving large communities of their natural and cultural heritage, they also pose an imminent threat to an area considered to be of the highest cultural value to humanity,” the organization said in a statement.
According to a European Union report, last year Israel advanced plans for 12,349 homes to be built in the West Bank, the most in 30 years.
Palestinians say the settlements represent the biggest threat to the two-state solution envisaging Israeli and Palestinian states existing side by side.
Violence in the West Bank has surged since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
At least 625 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops and settlers in the West Bank since October 7, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.
At least 18 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed by Palestinian attacks in the West Bank over the same period, according to official Israeli figures.
Israel approves new settlement on UNESCO site near Bethlehem
https://arab.news/mugd7
Israel approves new settlement on UNESCO site near Bethlehem
- All of Israel’s settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, are considered illegal under international law, regardless of whether they have Israeli planning permission
Israel signs $5.2 bln deal to acquire 25 F-15 fighter jets from Boeing
It said the $5.2 billion agreement was part of a broader package of US aid approved by the US administration and Congress earlier this year and included an option for 25 additional aircraft.
Delivery of the new F-15IA aircraft will begin in 2031, with 4-6 aircraft to be supplied annually, it said.
The aircraft will be equipped with weapons systems integrated with existing Israeli weapons as well as having increased range and payloads.
“These advantages will enable the Israeli Air Force to maintain its strategic superiority in addressing current and future challenges in the Middle East,” the ministry said in a statement.
“This F-15 squadron, alongside the third F-35 squadron procured earlier this year, represents a historic enhancement of our air power and strategic reach — capabilities that proved crucial during the current war,” the director general of the defense ministry, Eyal Zamir, said in the statement.
Zamir said that the government has secured procurement agreements worth nearly $40 billion since the onset of the war in Gaza that began Oct. 7, 2023.
“While focusing on immediate needs for advanced weaponry and ammunition at unprecedented levels, we’re simultaneously investing in long-term strategic capabilities,” he said.
For Boeing, the F-15 agreement is the second major deal this year. In August, flag carrier El Al Israel Airlines, signed a deal with Boeing for the purchase of up to 31 737 MAX aircraft worth as much as $2.5 billion, beating out rival Airbus.
Ido Nehushtan, president of Boeing Israel, said the company’s relationship dates back to Israel’s establishment and “will continue working with the US and Israeli governments to deliver the advanced F-15IA aircraft through standard military procurement channels.”
Erdogan phones Trump to discuss cooperation
ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken by phone with US president-elect Donald Trump to discuss cooperation between the two countries, the presidency said on Thursday.
Erdogan “congratulated Trump on his election victory” and “expressed his desire to develop cooperation between Turkiye and the United States in the period ahead,” it said in a statement.
Erdogan was twice hosted at the White House by Trump during his first term, but has never been received there by current President Joe Biden.
Israel passes law that would allow it to deport the families of Palestinian attackers
- They would be deported, either to the Gaza Strip or another location, for a period of 7 to 20 years
JERUSALEM: Israel’s parliament passed a law early Thursday that would allow it to deport family members of Palestinian attackers, including the country’s own citizens, to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip or other locations.
The law, which was championed by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and his far-right allies, passed with a 61-41 vote but is likely to be challenged in court.
It would apply to Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of annexed east Jerusalem who knew about their family members’ attacks beforehand or who “express support or identification with the act of terrorism.”
They would be deported, either to the Gaza Strip or another location, for a period of 7 to 20 years. The Israel-Hamas war is still raging in Gaza, where tens of thousands have been killed and most of the population has been internally displaced, often multiple times.
It was unclear if it would apply in the occupied West Bank, where Israel already has a longstanding policy of demolishing the family homes of attackers. Palestinians have carried out scores of stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks against Israelis in recent years.
Dr. Eran Shamir-Borer, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute and a former international law expert for the Israeli military, said that if the law comes before the Supreme Court, it is likely to be struck down based on previous Israeli cases regarding deportation.
“The bottom line is this is completely non-constitutional and a clear conflict to Israel’s core values,” said Shamir-Borer.
Israel captured Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, territories the Palestinians want for their future state. It withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005 but has reoccupied parts of the territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack triggered the war.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem in a move not recognized by most of the international community. Palestinians there have permanent residency and are allowed to apply for citizenship, but most choose not to, and those who do face a series of obstacles.
Palestinians living in Israel make up around 20 percent of the country’s population. They have citizenship and the right to vote but face widespread discrimination. Many also have close family ties to those in the territories and most sympathize with the Palestinian cause.
Israel strikes Hezbollah’s main bastion in Lebanon
- The Israeli army had issued evacuation orders ahead of the strikes
- Hezbollah had pledged the result of the US election would have no bearing on the war
JERUSALEM: Israel conducted air strikes on Hezbollah’s main bastion in south Beirut on Thursday, with one raid hitting an area near Lebanon’s only international airport.
The pre-dawn raids came after Hezbollah claimed a slew of attacks on Israel, including a missile strike targeting a military base near Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport.
Also on Wednesday, the health ministry said Israeli strikes on the Bekaa Valley and the densely populated ancient city of Baalbek in east Lebanon, where Hezbollah holds sway, killed 40 people.
Hezbollah and Israel have been at war since late September, when Israel broadened its focus from fighting Hamas in the Gaza Strip to securing its northern border.
Hezbollah began low intensity strikes on Israel last year, in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas following the October 7, 2023 attack.
The strike near the Beirut airport caused heavy damage to a heater factory warehouse, an AFP photographer reported.
Transport Minister Ali Hamie said the airport continued to operate as normal, with planes taking off and landing with no issue.
The raid caused minor damage to some of the airport’s buildings, including flag carrier Middle East Airlines’ premises.
The terminal building was safe, an airport official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.
Abu Elie, a taxi driver, was at the airport when the strikes hit.
“The entire car park shook. People were carrying their suitcases on their shoulders and running,” he said.
“When I made it to the street, there was so much smoke I had to turn the headlights on.”
US elections
While some in Lebanon had hoped Tuesday’s US presidential election might offer a reprieve, Hezbollah’s leader said in a speech broadcast on Wednesday that the vote would have no bearing on the future of the conflict.
He also warned that Hezbollah had tens of thousands of trained militants ready to fight, and that nowhere in Israel was “off-limits” to attacks.
Israel’s airports authority said Wednesday that operations at its main airport near commercial hub Tel Aviv were not affected after Hezbollah claimed it fired missiles at a military base nearby.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to keep fighting Hamas and Hezbollah until victory, spoke to US president-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday and discussed with him the threat posed by the militant group’s main backer Iran.
“The conversation was warm and cordial. The prime minister congratulated Trump on his election victory, and the two agreed to work together for Israel’s security. The two also discussed the Iranian threat,” Netanyahu’s office said.
In Lebanon, the overnight strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs were so intense many residents of the city were unable to sleep.
“We’ve had to flee our homes several times. Sometimes we sleep in the car,” said Ramzi Zaiter, a resident of south Beirut.
“Death has become a matter of luck. We can either die or survive.”
Lebanon war
Since September 23, more than 2,600 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon, according to Health Minister Firass Abiad.
Many in Lebanon and beyond had been awaiting the result of the US election to gauge whether there was any hope the war could end soon.
But Hezbollah’s Qassem said in his speech: “We don’t base our expectations for a halt of the aggression on political developments.”
For its part, Hezbollah’s main backer Iran said Thursday Trump’s election win could be a chance for the United States to reassess past “wrong policies.”
“We have very bitter experiences with the policies and approaches of different US governments in the past,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
Iran and the United States have been adversaries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the Western-backed shah, but tensions peaked during Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2021.
Tareq Hamad, a man displaced by the war from his south Lebanon village Kfar Kila, was cautious.
Trump “had said that if he wins, he would work toward a ceasefire. But these are just words,” he told AFP.
In Gaza, ravaged by 13 months of war since the deadliest attack in Israeli history, people were desperate for a solution.
“We were displaced, killed... there’s nothing left for us, we want peace,” said Mamduh Al-Jadba, who was displaced to Gaza City from Jabalia.
“I hope Trump finds a solution, we need someone strong like Trump to end the war and save us, enough, God, this is enough,” said the 60-year-old.
Ceasefire efforts
The United States is Israel’s main political and military backer and despite pressure from President Joe Biden’s administration for a ceasefire, the support has not wavered.
The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7 attack, which resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,391 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry the United Nations considers reliable.
In Israel, recent surveys have shown that a majority of people were hoping to see Trump return to the White House.
“Now we just need him to give us weapons,” said fruit vendor Yossi Mizrachi, 51, adding he believed Trump would be able to “bring an end to the war.”
In a cafe in Jerusalem, Yechiel Hajjbi, 57, also said he was “very happy” Trump had won and felt hopeful his return to power would “bring peace.”
Israel, WHO say evacuated dozens of Gazans for medical care
- The WHO said the “patients included those with autoimmune diseases, blood diseases, cancer, kidney conditions and trauma injuries”
JERUSALEM: Israel and the World Health Organization said more than 200 Gazans, both patients and their carers, were evacuated to the United Arab Emirates or Romania Wednesday for medical treatment.
In total, the group numbered some 230 people, according to the WHO and COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories.
“This is the largest number of patients and caregivers who have left through the Kerem Shalom crossing in recent months,” COGAT said in a statement.
The operation was carried out in cooperation with the UAE, the European Union and the WHO, it added.
The WHO said the “patients included those with autoimmune diseases, blood diseases, cancer, kidney conditions and trauma injuries.”
The patients were transferred from Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Israel, and then to Ramon Airport near Eilat in southern Israel.
The WHO’s representative in the Palestinian territories, Rik Peeperkorn, had said Tuesday that those on the evacuation list were among up to 14,000 people currently waiting in Gaza to be evacuated for medical reasons.
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,391 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to Gaza health ministry figures which the United Nations considers to be reliable.
The ministry also lists 102,347 people as having been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began.
Peeperkorn said Tuesday that fewer than 5,000 people had been granted medical evacuations out of the territory since the war began.
