Palestinian Authority Rejects Israeli Land Claim in West Bank
This article is for subscribers only.
Palestinians criticized Israel’s decision to appropriate about 1,000 acres of West Bank land, a move that one Israeli non-governmental organization said was “unprecedented in scope” since the 1980s.
The Defense Ministry yesterday declared the area south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem state land, a designation that under Israeli law allows for settlement construction. The property is located in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, which Israel has said it intends to retain in any final peace agreement with the Palestinians.