Construction of 800 New Homes in Occupied Territories, 'In Response to Palestinian Violence'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman have authorized the construction of 800 additional housing units in the occupied territories on Sunday, July 13, as a 'response' to recent Palestinian attacks on Jewish settlements. According to this decision, 560 new homes will be built in the settlement of Ma'ale Adumim, 140 homes in the Ramot area north of Jerusalem, and 100 homes in the Homat Shmuel area east of Jerusalem. The Israeli government has also agreed to construct 600 homes for Palestinians in Beit Safafa within Jerusalem. Israeli media reported that the approval for these homes in the occupied territories came just one day after the authorization for the construction of 42 more homes in the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba in the West Bank. These approvals were granted during two consecutive government meetings to discuss strategies to counter Palestinian attacks on Israeli citizens living in the settlements. According to the Jerusalem Post, right-wing politicians allied with Netanyahu's government had firmly demanded that he strengthen settlement construction in response to 'spilled blood.' Last Thursday, a 19-year-old Palestinian who crossed the barbed wire of the Kiryat Arba settlement entered a house and stabbed to death a 13-year-old girl who was sleeping in her room. The next day, armed individuals targeted an Israeli family's vehicle on a road between Jerusalem and Hebron; the father, Michael Mark, 48, who was a director of a Jewish seminary in the settlements, was killed, and his wife and daughter were seriously injured. Michael Mark was a cousin of Yossi Cohen, the head of the Mossad; Mr. Cohen attended Michael Mark's funeral on Sunday. A siege of large areas of Hebron continues in pursuit of the armed individuals responsible for the attack on this prominent family in the settlement community; no organization has claimed responsibility for the attack. Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian media reported that a sister and two brothers of Muhammad Al-Traira, the assailant who killed the 13-year-old Israeli girl, have been arrested by the Israeli army due to 'suspicions of repeating knife attacks.' Palestinian news sources have reported widespread arrests of Palestinian youths in Hebron and its surroundings, stating that Israeli military operations in various parts of the West Bank have intensified in recent days, and a state of martial law, unprecedented in recent years, has been established in parts of the West Bank. The Israeli Prime Minister stated in the July 13 government meeting that all military actions are fully supported by the government to 'ensure the security of citizens.' This situation has intensified ahead of Eid al-Fitr. Palestinians report that street-to-street clashes have also intensified in some camps like Qalandiya near Jerusalem, with several youths injured by gunfire during confrontations with Israeli soldiers. The day before, the Israeli army prevented Mr. Kamal Hamid, the governor of Hebron province, from entering Jerusalem because he had visited the family of Muhammad Al-Traira in the settlement of Bani Na'im, the perpetrator of the murder of the 13-year-old Israeli girl. On the morning of Monday, July 14, the Israeli army demolished the homes of two other assailants involved in recent street attacks that resulted in Israeli deaths in the West Bank. Increased pressures on West Bank residents, which Palestinians refer to as 'collective punishment,' and the granting of permits for further construction in the occupied territories come as the Quartet supporting Middle East peace stated in its latest report that Israel's policies are undermining the two-state solution. The Quartet, which includes the United States, Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union, emphasized in its report presented to the Security Council last Thursday that Israel is constructing homes for Jews in large parts of the West Bank while Palestinians are not serious about peace and dialogue with Israel and have not stopped violence and terrorism.