The Knesset’s decision gives Itamar Ben-Gvir the responsibility to demolish homes in the Arab community within the 1948 lands under the pretext of unlicensed construction.
The Israeli parliament (Knesset) has approved the government’s decision to transfer responsibility for the Land Authority to the extremist Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir.
The decision was approved on Thursday night by the support of 55 Knesset members with 51 opposed to it.
Largest West Bank Land Seizure in Decades – Israel Speeds Up Settlement Activity
The transfer of this jurisdiction to Ben-Gvir “was made possible after the ultra-Orthodox parties agreed to support the move as part of a deal with Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party, in return for the passage of another law that will permit the blocking of certain content to cell phones,” of 600,000 cellphone holders in the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community, the Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported.
The report said Ben-Gvir had imposed a veto on this until the vote, “but lifted it when the Haredim agreed to let the authority responsible for handling illegal construction in the West Bank be passed to him.”
‘Constitutionally Problematic’
This decision by the Knesset gives Ben-Gvir the responsibility to demolish homes in the Arab community within the 1948 lands under the pretext of unlicensed construction, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. The report emphasized that the enforcement of these powers has never been applied among Jews.
These powers were previously those of the Israeli Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich.
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Haaretz said the legislation was passed “despite warnings” from the Ministry of Justice that “it was constitutionally problematic and infringes on individual rights.”
Ben-Gvir has, in recent weeks, refused to support several bills promoted by the coalition, “unless his demand to join the narrow war cabinet is granted,” the paper said.
International Law Violation
Last Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and should be brought to an end “as rapidly as possible.”
The Court also ruled by 14 votes to one, that Israel is under an obligation “to immediately cease all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers” from the occupied land.
PRESS RELEASE: the #ICJ delivered its Advisory Opinion in respect of the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem https://t.co/CVnr5gqKDR pic.twitter.com/8Q9EVWHVX7
— CIJ_ICJ (@CIJ_ICJ) July 19, 2024
According to the Peace Now settlement watchdog, the Israeli government has appropriated around 23,700 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of the year – the largest appropriation of land since the Oslo Accords in 1993.
“The size of the area designated for declaration is the largest since the Oslo Accords, and the year 2024 marks a peak in the extent of declarations of state land,” the Peace Now organization said in a statement on Wednesday.
On June 25, Israel declared 12,700 dunams (1,270 hectares) in the Jordan Valley as state land.
This is in addition to the declaration on February 29 of 2,640 dunums (264 hectares) of land between the settlements of Ma’ale Adumim and Keidar, the declaration of 8,000 dunams (800 hectares) on March 20 in an area adjacent to the current declaration, as well as the declaration of 170 dunams (17 hectares) near the Herodium, the organization said.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
El Douche, Aaay????