Residents protest
Residents protestTPS

Amichai Settlement Committee Chairman Amichai Mishael Nevat Peretz and Adei Ad community committee Chairman Adi Yohan Rosenzweig sent a letter to the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers on Tuesday, protesting "the establishment of a Palestinian city next to the communities of Amichai and Adei Ad."

"In the last few weeks, a new Palestinian town has been set up in the Shilo area. This town dominates the communities of Amichai, Shvut Rachel, and Adei Ad, and endangering the lives and security of the residents of these communities," the two said at the beginning of the letter.

"In the massive works that began a few weeks ago, a large road network was built with heavy tools, tractors, and bulldozers," they said, adding that as the construction continued, investigation revealed that a few meters from Amichai and Adei Ad, a new Arab town was being built.

"It is clear that the bulldozer work is the first step on the road to breaking through a wide road network that will serve as the primary infrastructure for the new town. During further investigation, the residents of Amihai went to the site where the work was being carried out and secretly documented the contractor, Salem, from the village of Taibeh. According to the Palestinian contractor, paving work including asphalt will be completed within two months, when the road network will be completed," the two added.

The community heads explained, "At this stage, the main breakthrough to the town of Veripoda was completed with asphalt. The contractor also announced that in the first stage, 150 plots of land of one dunam each will be sold, and that the area of the first neighborhood will be spread over 250 dunams. Attached is a map of the full lots. The new Palestinian town, which is taking shape at lightning speed, is being established in the area that controls the territory of the settlements of Amichai, Shvut Rachel, and Adei Ad, and is expected to seriously endanger the lives of settlement residents.

"It is impossible that you would build a Palestinian city outside our window - unless someone in power wants to create a new, daily, nonstop focal point of friction. The city that is emerging before our eyes is part of the Fayyad Plan for massive construction up to the fences of the Israeli settlements. This construction seriously harms the personal security of each of the Israelis who live in the settlements of the Shilo bloc and especially in Amichai. The public expects the cabinet to wake up, take responsibility, and stop this thing immediately."