News- Middle East: Israel is planning a significant land appropriation of Palestinian land for the Sebastia Archaeological Site in the occupied West Bank, which threatens Palestinian olive groves and livelihoods under the pretext of development.

The plan involves the seizure of nearly 1,800 dunams (1,800,000 square meters) of land belonging to the Palestinian villages of Burqa and Sebastia, affecting thousands of olive trees.

In a recent notice, Israeli authorities announced their intention to seize the Sebastia archaeological site for development, claiming it will be made accessible for public visits.

This land is privately owned and registered under Palestinian ownership.

Residents and landowners have been given 14 days to submit objections to prevent the order from taking effect.

The seizure would represent the largest recorded appropriation of land for antiquities, situated near village homes and bordering Area B, impacting thousands of privately owned olive groves.

The move is particularly unusual due to the site's location and the administrative order under which it is being executed.

Since 1967, land appropriations in the West Bank for antiquities development have occurred five times, according to the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now.

In the cases of Deir Qala and Deir Samaan, the sites have become part of the settlements Alei Zahav and Peduel, leaving Palestinians without access.

While these land grabs have been justified as serving a public purpose, they have effectively excluded Palestinians from the sites.

The Sebastia case is unique as it targets an archaeological site that has historically functioned as an economic, cultural, and tourism hub for local Palestinians, remaining accessible to the public.

The measures taken by the Israeli occupation aim to exclude Palestinians from their lands while facilitating Israeli settlement in the area.

Israel's use of tourism for settlement purposes is not new; particularly in the northern West Bank, it appears to serve as a guise for broader development plans, including the establishment of the Homesh and Sa-Nur settlements.

Peace Now group said that the Israeli authorities' drive for "dispossession and annexation knows no limits, and it is prepared to violate international law openly to pursue it."

"This is part of a broader effort to take control and expand settlements in areas northwest of Nablus that Israel evacuated during the disengagement. Sebastia is a heritage site located inside a Palestinian village, part of its history and part of a future Palestinian state,“ the group said.

Under the Oslo Accords, signed by Israel, it should have been transferred to Palestinian administration long ago.

The developments come as right-wing Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans to annex more than 80 percent of the occupied West Bank in a bid to block the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Smotrich last month stated that the main principle of annexation is “the maximum land with minimum Arab population.”

Smotrich called on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to make a historic decision to apply Israeli sovereignty to all open areas in the West Bank.”

Israel recently approved a major settlement project, called E1, which aims to split the occupied West Bank into two parts, cutting off the northern cities of Ramallah and Nablus from Bethlehem and al-Khalil in the south and isolating East al-Quds.

The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a Palestinian state.

The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements illegal under international law.

Earlier this year, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that the Israeli policy of expanding and consolidating settlements across the occupied West Bank amounts to “a war crime.”

The UN rights chief said Israel must evacuate all settlers from the occupied West Bank and make reparations for decades of illegal settlement. Turk urged the international community to take meaningful action against the occupying entity.

In an advisory opinion last July, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds.

Source: Press TV