An-Najah News - Nablus – Najah News - Walid Assaf, Chairman of the commission against the Wall and Settelments, affirmed that there is a historical escalation in the pace of Israeli settlements during the past month; especially that Israel is taking advantage of the international concern, "The Coronavirus", and the unlimited American support.

Assaf said, to the official agency, today, Wednesday, that "Israel is implementing the largest settlement projects in its history, after announcing the construction of more than 19,000 settlement units in the Jerusalem area, 9,000 of them in Qalandia, and 3,500 in E1."

"They have built settlement outposts on An Najma Mountain in the Aqraba, Qusra and Jurish villages, and expanded the outposts surrounding Yitzhar settlement. They also tried to gain control over Al ‘Arma Mount in Beita, and restricted Palestinians from building in Area B in Burin village as they work on closing Nablus," Assaf added.

Assaf continued by saying that "the Israeli occupation forces are also assaulting citizens of Turmus Ayya and preventing the lands’ owners from entering their lands because they are building a new outpost at the outskirts of the village’s plain, in addition to other assaulting acts in north-east Tubas. They have also placed barbed wires in the northern Jordan Valley vicinity and prevented farmers and pastoralists from entering their lands."

He also referred to "the Israeli settlement measures, including the closure of Al-Azariya road that connects Al Khan al-Ahmar with Jericho, with the aim of annexing the region to Israel and implementing the Greater Jerusalem plan, and expanding settlement outposts east of Mughaier and Kufr Malik, by building a settlement road."

"The settlement expansion is part of implementing the annexation maps and the "Deal of the Century", and Israel is taking advantage of the American support to draw new borders for the settlements and take advantage of the election conditions to achieve new gains to achieve more control," Assaf stressed.

He added that "the occupation authorities started working on the Hawara bypass road, which connects the settlements around Nablus with the Ariel settlement bloc in the middle of the West Bank, and the so-called "lifeblood" or "sovereignty" road links Al-Za’yem and Al-Eizariya, which connects the south of the West Bank with its north, which has been changed to the sovereignty road in order to devote The sovereignty of the region to Israel."