RAMALLAH, Palestine, Jan 16 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestine slammed Israel’s approval, to take over Palestinians’ lands, to create nature reserves in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, the step is considered a land confiscation plot, to take over large areas of the West Bank.
It urged the UN Security Council, to take steps for the implementation of the UN resolution 2334.
The resolution, adopted in 2016, stated that, the establishment of settlements in the Palestinian territory, occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, “has no legal validity.”
On Wednesday (yesterday), the Israeli Defence Ministry, approved a plan to create seven new nature reserves in Area C of the West Bank. The plan also includes the expansion of 12 already existing nature reserves, a week after Israeli Defence Minister, Naftali Bennett, declared a campaign to impose control over the area.
The Israeli ministry said, it is the first approval of Israeli nature reserves in the West Bank’s Area C. Area C is 60 percent of the West Bank’s 5,655 square km area.
Under the Oslo Accords, signed between the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Israeli government, in the 1990’s, the West Bank was divided into three areas: Area A under Palestinian control, Area B under Palestinian control and Israeli security control, which makes up around 22 percent of the West Bank, and Area C under full Israeli control.– NNN-WAFA
