PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah
PA Prime Minister Rami HamdallahReuters

The PA condemned the decision to grant municipal rights to the Jewish community in Hevron, calling it a violation of the decision of international institutions.

The PA called today on the UN and the international community, especially the US, to take a strong stand against the escalation in “illegal” Israeli activity aiming “to entrench the occupation and colonialism over Palestinian lands.”

In addition to the decision about Hevron, the PA laid out additional steps that Israel is taking to bolster “illegal settlements” and “colonialism.” According to the PA these include:

*The allocation of 60 million shekels to build the community of Amichai for Amona expellees on the land of the village of Jalud;

*The approval of the Housing Ministry to build 4,000 housing units in Judea and Samaria;

*The decision of the Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee to build 176 units in Jabel Mukaber in southeastern Jerusalem;

*The removal of a family from its home in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

The PA emphasized that these steps are a blatant violation of the UN security Council resolution 2334 from December 23, 2016, which demands an immediate halt in building “settlements.”

To set the record straight on some of the allegations, Amichai is not being built on private land. The 176 units in Jerusalem are to be built in Nof Tzion, a neighborhood near Jabel Mukaber, but not part of it. Nof Tzion is also near Armon Hanatziv. The family of Arab squatters in the Sheikh Jarrah (Shimon Hatzadik) neighborhood was living in a house belonging to one of the Jews expelled by the British and Arab forces during the War of Independence. The deeds prove that the houses there were purchased by Jews in the 19th century.