Jerusalem, June 2 (SANA) The Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission revealed on Tuesday that the Israeli occupation authorities issued a new military order to seize 300 dunums of land in the Jabal al-Fureidis area, east of Bethlehem governorate, under the pretext of “acquisition for public purposes” and the “development of an archaeological site.”
The commission’s head, Moayad Shaaban, said the expropriation order is the third of its kind issued since the beginning of 2026. He described the measure as part of an accelerated policy aimed at imposing legal and administrative control over Palestinian land and employing military orders to alter land ownership realities in favor of settlement projects, according to WAFA News Agency.
Shaaban stated that the latest order represents the sixth measure targeting Palestinian archaeological and heritage sites in recent years, including locations in Jericho, Salfit, Nablus, and Jerusalem. He said the trend reflects an increasing use of archaeological and historical narratives to reinforce control over land and create new settlement realities on the ground.
He warned that expropriation policies in the occupied West Bank constitute one of the most serious tools used to impose a fait accompli on Palestinian territory, noting that such unilateral measures contradict international law and relevant international resolutions.
Shaaban added that the targeting of archaeological sites forms part of broader efforts to reshape the historical and cultural landscape of the Palestinian territories and link these sites to the settlement project, thereby isolating them from their Palestinian surroundings.
He further stressed that the move comes within a wider framework of Israeli measures aimed at expanding control over West Bank land and imposing new geographical and legal realities as a prelude to further settlement expansion at the expense of Palestinian land and the rights of its inhabitants.
MHD
