No sooner did the war on the Gaza Strip disappear from the headlines, all the old headlines appeared. More Israeli confiscation of West Bank land reminds the Palestinians of the root of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: land.
The largest land grab in 30 years announced Aug. 31 covers nearly 4,000 dunums (1.5 square miles) south of Bethlehem. Despite the fact that a brutal 51-day war on Gaza nominally resulted from the deaths of three Israeli settlers, Israel radio said that the land grab was revenge for the killings back in June.
This time, it's different. The order issued by the military’s civil administration unit declares the confiscated land “state land” and therefore destined for the expansion of Jewish-only settlements in the occupied territories. Speaking on Palestine TV, Palestinian land expert Khalil Tawfaqji said that if the area is indeed state land, the UN-recognized state of Palestine should be the party to claim it and not the Israeli occupiers.
It is not clear whether this massive land grab is some kind of payoff to right-wing Israeli officials or a response to the as yet undeclared Palestinian initiative. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that his government will present a "surprise" plan to US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sept. 3 and the Arab League’s foreign ministers meeting on Sept. 7. Little details have emerged, but Abbas said in a TV interview that the Oslo-declared idea of Areas A, B and C will no longer be tolerated in the state of Palestine.
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