Settlement Precedent East of Ramallah: Commercial Cafe Opens in the Heart of 'Area B'

In a new provocative move, settlers have opened a commercial establishment named 'Cafe Bahar' or (Mountain Cafe), as part of the occupation's efforts to impose new facts on the ground deep within the occupied West Bank. Field sources reported that the cafe was established within the pastoral settlement outpost 'Havot HaOranim', located near the 'Ofra' settlement, which is built on citizens' lands east of the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate.

The danger of this project lies in its geographical and political location, as the establishment was openly built on lands classified as (B) according to the Oslo Accords, which are areas under Palestinian civil and administrative responsibility and Israeli security control. This step is considered a commercial precedent aimed at undermining the remaining powers of the Palestinian Authority in those areas and transforming them into settlement and investment attractions for settlers.

Observers believe that this type of settlement, which integrates pastoral outposts with commercial projects, aims to tighten the siege on Palestinian communities and prevent farmers and shepherds from accessing vast areas of their lands. The project has received widespread praise from settler platforms, which considered it an actual تجاوزاً of previous political restrictions and an entrenchment of full Israeli control over Palestinian lands.

This project is the first settlement commercial establishment to be openly built in Area (B) under the Oslo Accords, thus establishing a new phase of land annexation.