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The settlement road is an expansion of Highway 505 and will pave Israeli settlers’ way from the Ariel settlement junction to the Za ‘atara junction south of Nablus, costing up to NIS 500 million, under a bilateral agreement between the Israeli Ministry of Transportation and settlement board, Hebrew Channel 7 reported.
As mentioned by the Hebrew Channel, this dual route will be the first Israeli bypass route to link the Mediterranean Sea with the Jordan River, not for Arabs’ service but only for Israeli settlers’ security and transportation, confiscating thousands of Palestinian-owned lands.
The trajectory to fall out next summer 2024 is already set for a significant jump in the settler population, which would take the total from the current 500,000 to 1 million over the coming years and by the expansion of this road.
Expanding the route will follow two main phases. The first phase includes a tender that has been suggested for the immediate construction of a section linking Ariel settlement to the Za ‘atara junction at a cost of NIS 500 million with a detailed plan to double the length of the way up to the the Jordan Valley area.
The second phase includes another expansion from the Za ‘atara settlement junction up to the Fasayil junction in n the Jordan Valley’s vicinity, linking it to the bypass street of the Ghandi Highway, at an additional cost of a half billion shekels.
The Israeli government is not waiting around to serve settlers’ mobilization in the West Bank. Since the start of 2023, it has advanced the plan of over 12,000 new housing units in settlements across the West Bank, more than 7,000 of which have been approved for construction.
Since 1967, Israeli authorities have seized 25 square kilometres of land in East Jerusalem, amounting to 35% of its total area of 70 square kilometres, claiming it’s for “public interest,” according to Jerusalem affairs researcher Fakhri Abu Diab.
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