Nablus - "Jerusalem" dot com - Imad Saadeh - The National Bureau for Defending the Land and Resisting Settlement said that the occupation's violations of all international laws and norms know no borders, neither in time nor in space, as they cover the entire West Bank , and extend to the Dead Sea , which It is located on its eastern outskirts, with a total area of about (950 km), of which about (600 km) is in the part occupied in 1967.

He explained that this sea contains 28 types of salts and minerals, the most important of which are chlorine, bromine, sodium, phosphate and calcium.

The occupation authorities spare no effort except for the sake of more control over the Palestinian land and the Palestinian space, through settlement projects that take many forms and do not exclude one of the governorates or one of the regions in the West Bank, including the Dead Sea, sometimes with housing projects and other times with tourism development projects. Spend hundreds of millions of dollars on them, and settle me on the northern shores of the Dead Sea.

It is not satisfied with seeking to control large areas of land that resulted from the receding of the Dead Sea waters, and it is located within the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, but rather extends its control plans with tourism projects in the remaining areas of the sea.

It is noteworthy that several settlements have been established by Israel in the areas north of the Dead Sea, and millions have been spent on them in building infrastructure and various facilities that attract settlements in the occupied Palestinian Jordan Valley.

And the Dead Sea annually loses areas of land that are flooded with water, due to the policy of the Israeli government that reserves the sources that feed the sea, for the benefit of the settlements and settlers, whether in the lands it occupied in 1948 or the lands it occupied in 1967.

These lands are transformed by the occupation authorities into state lands and considered a vital area for settlement in the future, and the rest of the area flooded with water from the sea, which the occupation authorities plan to control through settlement projects in the color of tourism.

Here, and in continuation of the policy of the occupation government based on settlements, Judaization and robbery of the capabilities and natural wealth of the Palestinian people, and as a continuation of similar projects that it previously completed, the Israeli occupation authorities intend to inaugurate a series of hotels in the Dead Sea similar to the Maldives, and in the form of a new "Riviera" in the Middle East, as they claim. , where Israel plans to initially launch a 200-room floating hotel on the water.

The occupation government has conducted a tender to inaugurate these hotels in the Dead Sea, and Barclays won it, and it is supposed to build a tourist riviera in the Dead Sea, very similar to the global Maldives, and it is expected that the construction process will take at least 4 years, and it is worth mentioning That the Israeli investment projects and the Dead Sea factories contribute to the destruction of Palestinian natural resources, and environmental experts have warned that the Israeli investment policies and projects will lead to the drying up of the Dead Sea, in light of the decrease in the sea level at a rate of one and a half meters annually, and its area has shrunk by 35 percent in four years. contracts.

Jerusalem in the crosshairs of settlement projects

As for occupied Jerusalem, it is still in the midst of escalation and settlement and Judaization projects that do not stop, and take an upward turn with each new Israeli election for the Knesset in the context of competition between large and small Zionist parties.

This is evident from the intensity of these projects adopted by the occupation authorities, the municipality of Moshe Lion, and settlement associations, especially the "Elad" association, which focuses its activities in the occupied city and governorate of Jerusalem. Despite the opposition of the international community, private Israeli companies, the Ministry of Housing and Settlement, and the so-called "Israeli Land Authority" announced an agreement. A joint plan according to which 1,250 settlement units will be built on the southern slopes of the “Gilo” settlement, which is built on the lands of Beit Jala in the Bethlehem governorate.

This announcement comes within the framework of cooperation between "Ken Hathor" and "Epsilon" companies with the Ministry of Settlement and Housing and the (Israeli Land Authority), which said that the development of the southern slopes of the "Gilo" settlement neighborhood will be carried out, and the development will include the road network, infrastructure, public areas and parks. Commercial and employment areas, in addition to building a group of high-rise buildings, including 1,250 settlement units at the bottom of the southern slopes, including 27 buildings from 9 to 13 floors.

As for the second part of the project, it will include 4 settlement towers, each with 20 to 24 floors, on top of those heights that overlook the mountains of the southern West Bank. Public areas, gardens, and commercial and employment areas southwest of the tunnels that connect Jerusalem to the settlement bloc "Gush Etzion".

In addition, the new plan is expected to add to the upper part of the complex a plan that includes hundreds of settlement units in 4 huge towers that will accommodate about 580 new settlement units within the next 4 years.

According to the companies that won the first bid, the project is in the stages of planning and coordination with all relevant authorities in the occupation municipality in Jerusalem and the local and district committees. It has reached an advanced stage and has obtained most of the approvals. The subsidiary company “Ken Hathor” is promoting a series of projects and accompanying settlement complexes. and supportive.

Hundreds of settlement units near Beit Safafa
At the same time, the National Building Committee in occupied Jerusalem is expected to approve, next week, the construction of hundreds of settlement units near the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Safafa, despite the American opposition to that. A settlement neighborhood near Beit Safafa in Jerusalem, where the National Building Committee will hold its meeting next week for approval.

It was also revealed that a project was launched to establish 162 new settlement units in the "Ramat Shlomo" settlement built on the lands of Shuafat town in Jerusalem. An Israeli real estate group will build 162 settlement units and 3,325 square meters of commercial space in the settlement. The area was originally designated for public buildings in 2019 before being converted into a residential construction area, which will include 3 9-storey buildings above a two-storey shopping mall.

Also in the city of Jerusalem, the occupation municipality, in cooperation with an Israeli engineering company, began working on the construction of a 200-meter suspended tourist bridge for pedestrians over the lands of the Wadi al-Rababa neighborhood in the town of Silwan, south of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the pretext of facilitating the arrival of extremist settlers to the Al-Buraq Wall and the Mughrabi Gate.

The occupation municipality and the so-called Israeli "Nature Authority" began excavation work years ago in several areas of the lands of Wadi Al-Rababa to examine the soil, but the owners of the lands and the people of Silwan confronted them and prevented them from completing the excavation.

However, in 2020, the "local and district committees" in the occupation municipality agreed to start implementing the Judaization project after rejecting all the objections submitted by the landowners and the concerned institutions in Silwan to the occupation and municipal courts.

As usual, the "Elad" settlement association and the so-called "Jerusalem Development Authority" and the "Jerusalem Ministry" are supervising the construction of the Judaizing bridge. The neighborhood confirmed their ownership of the lands through the identification papers they owned.

In 2018, the Israeli "Peace Now" movement and the "Emek Sheveh" Foundation submitted a judicial petition to the "District Appeal Committee for Planning and Building" in occupied Jerusalem, to invalidate the plan to build the suspension bridge. The petition stated that the plan was moved in secret and without the knowledge of the public, and that the project It is for political purposes that serve the settlement in Jerusalem at the expense of the Palestinian neighborhoods and the important religious and historical values of Jerusalem.

Biblical garden south of Al-Aqsa Mosque
Also in Jerusalem, the far-right Minister of Jerusalem, Heritage and Housing, Ze’ev Elkin, inaugurated the (biblical archaeological) park southwest of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, at the bottom of the corner of the Islamic Museum - in the Umayyad palaces area.

It is known that this ministry and the Elad Settlement Association lead the efforts of the occupation government and its Judaization projects in Jerusalem in general, the Old City and the (Holy Basin) with total investments over the years of hundreds of millions of shekels.

The Ministry of Tourism in Israel also has a role in these settlement and Judaization projects by focusing on tourism projects in (the basin of the old city). Jewish religious attractions of ancient Jerusalem.

It is noteworthy that the “Holy Basin” is a loose expression for a Judaization project for the vicinity of the Old City that was launched in 1999. It extends from the Wadi Al-Rababa area in the town of Silwan, passing through the Al-Bustan and Wadi Hilweh neighborhoods in the town, then towards the Tantour Pharaoh area and the Jewish cemeteries on the slopes of the Mount of Olives. The project is about 2 kilometers, and the occupation exploits the religious issue to impose a political reality and Judaizing religious tourism in the place, in cooperation and partnership with settlement associations such as the "Laad" association and "Ateret Cohanim."

For the first time since the occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, the southern wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque is being illuminated by the occupation, which prevents the entry of the Hashemite Endowments, Antiquities and Ages employees to it, and prevents the lighting of large parts of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

This project is part of a new tourism project in Jerusalem, which will make it possible to experience the archaeological park, a complex adjacent to the prayer square in the Western Wall, and to connect western and eastern Jerusalem, bringing visitors to the historic basin, and it is a project within a series of projects, including the "air train" project and the The aerial bridge is 240 m long and 30 m high. It will start from al-Thawri neighborhood, passing through the lands of Wadi al-Rabayah, and reaching Salas to the Waqf of the Dajani family, southwest of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Aerial and land paths, public gardens, and restaurants were uncovered in this huge project, with the aim of encouraging settlement tourism and bringing it to the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods to support settlement there. project feasible.

According to the occupation municipality, the project was inaugurated in a special launch ceremony, in the presence of the Minister of Housing, Jerusalem and Heritage, Knesset member Ze’ev Elkin, Minister of Tourism Yoel Razvozu, Mayor Moshe Lion, and Director of the Antiquities Authority, Eli Escouzido. The place was equipped with innovative lighting, with a special focus on corners. The lighting and the variable temperature of the light, according to the special shows illuminated in the place so that the southern wall of the illuminated Al-Aqsa Mosque can be seen from the chain of hills and mountains such as Jabal Al-Mukabber, Silwan, Abu Dis, Al-Sawahra and the distant Mandoub Palace.

The settlers' orgies increased
The settlers' rebellion and attacks against the Palestinians and their remaining lands and properties are escalating and accelerating. Settlers have called for the storming of the village of Nabi Samuel and its mosque, and the gathering in large numbers of up to 10,000 settlers.

Extremist Knesset member Itamar Ben Gvir led a provocative storming of the village of Nabi Samuel, with the participation of hundreds of settlers, and under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, which intensified their deployment and checkpoints in the village and its surroundings, in anticipation of the event that the villagers will organize against the racist occupation policies and the restrictions imposed on them.

The village of Nabi Samuel is located northwest of occupied Jerusalem, next to an archaeological site of the same name, and was built on top of a hill around the mosque and the tomb that is attributed to the Prophet Samuel. The Palestinian village faces the siege of the occupation and its racist policies, after it was isolated from its surroundings by building the apartheid wall. The city of Jerusalem or the occupied West Bank, except with permits issued by the occupation authorities and its army.

The occupation prevents residents from building without permits, while the occupation authorities refuse to grant permits to citizens to build, develop and expand their homes.