Palestine

The Jewish National Fund (JNF) has officially approved plans to expand illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, local media reported.

Iran PressMiddle East: The JNF is still to approve the purchase of private Palestinian land in Area C of the occupied territory, potentially for hundreds of millions of dollars. Such purchases, explained Walla news website, would be used for the development of existing settlements in Area C.

The JNF was established in 1901 to raise funds to buy land in Palestine and build Jewish settlements. By 2007, it owned 13 percent of the total land in Israel for the use of Jews exclusively.

The construction of new settlements is a clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2334.

The resolution, which was approved on December 23, 2016, by a vote of 14 members and the only abstention of the United States, while stating building settlements in Palestine illegal, calls on Israel to stop the construction operation.

211