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1,737 Settlement Units Promoted: Eli Settlement Housing Legalized, New Industrial Park

The Higher Planning Council (HPC) of the Civil Administration convened today (27 February 2020) and approved 12 plans in 11 settlements, with 1,737 housing units, including 94 percent of which will be located deep in the West Bank, in areas that should be part of the future Palestinian state according to the Geneva Initiative proposed border. Of the total, 1,069 units were approved for deposit (first major stage), while 668 were approved for validation (final major stage).

Peace Now: “The caretaker government, without a public and moral mandate, sets facts on the ground for a small and extreme minority, against the will of the majority. In the battle over the settler right-wing vote, Bennett and Netanyahu are dragging Israel to invest in thousands of harmful and unnecessary settlement units. This is how a cynical and irresponsible leadership that is willing to abandon the Israeli interest for its political survival behaves.”

Noteworthy Plans

A New Industrial Park, “Sha’ar Hashomron,” close to Green Line, east of Salfit and South of Qalqilya, near the planned Nahal Rabah cemetery. In the area of Nahal Raba, there existed a firing zone for years that prevented the use of the land. The land’s designation as a firing zone was lifted a few years ago, and the government’s Blue Line team set new boundaries for the state lands that comprised this area, all in preparation for a plan to build a new industrial zone. Industrial zones are a type of settlement in of themselves, and the planned cemetery is likely to be the first component toward establishing the new industrial zone. The plan for this new industrial park is separate from the 1,737 housing units advanced in the HPC announcement.

Legalizing hundreds of units built illegally in Eli settlement, and to allow new units to be built (620 units in total). The plan was stopped by the High Court following a petition by Palestinian land owners and Yesh-Din and Bimkom. Last week, the High Court allowed the approval of most of the planned units.

The plans promoted at the HPC meeting include:

Settlement Plan No. Units Approved for Deposit Units Approved for Validation Beyond the Geneva Borders Comments
Tzofim 149/7/2 92 92
Maaleh Shomron 116/4 106 106
Tzofim 149/13 64 64
Shaar Hashomron IA 192 Industry New Industrial Area West of Salfit (south of Qalqilya)
Eli 237 620 620 Legalization of many units built illegally.
Har Bracha 114/1/3 48 48
Shvut Rachel 205/2/2 534 534 Was discussed and approved for deposit on 6/1/20, maybe there was a need to rediscuss from some reason
Kfar Eldad 411/6/1/4 105 105 Officially part of Nokdim settlement
Alon Shvut 405/7/3 110
Karnei Shomron 117/8/1/3/5 24 24 Adding 24 units to the 12 approved (total 36 units)
Givat Zeev 220/10/17 33 33 Adding 35 units to the 40 approved (total 75 units)
Kiryat Arba 510/28 1 1 For a winery
Total 1,069 668
Grand Total 1,737 1,627 (93.67%)