Occupation forces issued a military order for the confiscation of 1,200 dunums of Palestinian land for the construction of a new road to connect southern West Bank ghettos with Jericho.
The land will be seized from the Palestinian neighbourhoods of Abu Dis and Sawahre and areas near Nabi Mussa, south Jerusalem. The new road will isolate thousands of dunums used by shepherds. Dozens of Bedouin shepherds who use the area for their sheep and camels will be expelled. Land which was supposed to be used as a building area for the expansion of Abu Dis and Sawahre will be cut off and the geographic link between these and other Palestinian towns and villages will be severed.
The isolated and confiscated land will be used to expand the settlement of Maâale Adumin under the E1 project. 3,500 units including hotels and a business park are planned.
The new road will be for Palestinian use only, replacing the historic road. It will extend from south Abu Dis to the east and run south of Kidar settlement before reaching Jericho and the Jordan Valley. The development of parallel infrastructure is designed to cement apartheid in the West Bank, enabling Palestinians to live in ghettos surrounded by walls and checkpoints, in isolated enclaves between expanding Israeli settlements.
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