Palestine: Israel continues with West Bank invasions, land theft.

International Middle East Media Center: Israeli forces continued their violations against the Palestinian people and their property, Wednesday, with raids near Hebron, Bethlehem, Nablus and in occupied East Jerusalem.

Soldiers, today, handed demolition notices to five families of al-Hathaleen tribe, in Um el- Khair village, south of Hebron and to the east of Yatta.
Rateb al-Jbour, who coordinates the anti-wall and settlement popular committee in southern Hebron, said that the families were ordered to remove barbed wire fences and gardens as a prelude to the seizing of their lands, in an expansion of illegal Israeli settlement of Karmiel.

The 150-dunam plot of land, according to WAFA, is designated as part of Area C and under full Israeli control.

In response to the new Palestinian government formation, Israeli MK, Opher Akonis,has called for giving serious thought to the idea of annexing Area C of the occupied West Bank that is under the full Israeli sovereignty.

The Oslo II Accord divided the West Bank into three administrative divisions, says Al Ray: Area A (full civil and security control by the Palestinian Authority), area B (Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control) and area C (full Israeli civil and security control).

Al-Jbour told the PNN that forces also seized the residents cars and tractors, in order to prevent access in and out of the village.

In al-Khader village, to the south of Bethlehem, Israeli authorities set up new settlements constructions on Palestinians lands, today, as well.

Huassan Bragyeh, coordinator of the Popular Resistance against the Wall and Settlement in Bethlehem, said that authorities upgraded the settlers’ carnivals to concrete constructions, making the permanent structures in the area, according to the PNN.

He added that the Israel continues to build in this area, south of Bethlehem, most likely as an effort to extend the illgal settlement of Efrat from its eastern and southern sections, in order to divide Bethlehem.

Al-Khader land owners are now networking with organizations that might help them to retrieve their property through the Israeli court system.

In occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers accompanied by police invaded the al Aqsa mosque compound, laying siege to Palestinians at compound gates.

Palestinian sources have informed PNN that around 60 Israeli Settlers raided the compound this morning, for the purpose of performing Talmudic prayers. Following the raid, Israeli police obstructed Palestinians from praying, in protection of settlers who were still in the compound.

According to the sources, the department of Awqaf in Jerusalem has attempted to open the gates and evacuate the settlers, with Palestinian organizations in Jerusalem afraid that the raids may activate an Israeli plan to divide the compound itself.

WAFA reports that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the repeated assaults on Al Aqsa by Israeli Knesset members, settlers and police, calling on the Arab and Islamic world, including the Kingdom of Jordan, the Jerusalem Committee and the Organization of Islamic Conference to make prompt decisions and real steps to protect and defend it.

He warned of the ongoing excavations beneath the mosque, warning that it was liable to collapse at any moment.
Furthermore, WAFA reports that Abbas has decided to attend the Jeddah-based conference of the Organization of Islamic Conference, which is scheduled for June 18th, in light of the danger facing the mosque and other Muslim and Christian holy sites.

He called for activation of the Arab summit resolutions, and for the Committee on Jerusalem and Holy Sites to take steps in protecting and maintaining the Arab cultural identity of Jerusalem.

In addition to today’s attacks, Ghassan Daghlas, a PA official who monitors settlement activities in the West Bank, told Ma’an News Agency that “a number of settlers from the Havat Gilad (“Gilad’s Farm”) settlement burned dozens of trees and the fire spread in the area”, in the Palestinian villages of Farata and Immatin west, in the Nablus region, in a targeted attack on local villagers, adding that “Palestinian civil defense was trying to reach the area to put out the fire.”

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in 2013, there were 399 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, states Ma’an, with over 90 percent of investigations by Israeli police failing to lead to indictment.

More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in direct violation of international law, to which Israel is signatory.