Letter dated 24 June 1986 from the Permanent Representative
of Jordan to the United Nations, addressed to the Secretary-General
I have the honour to draw your attention to the latest information contained in the annex concerning the activities and practices of the Israeli occupation authorities. in the occupied Arab territories during the month of May 1986. These activities and practices clearly indicate that Israel persists in its policy of confiscating Arab lands and continues to execute its colonization plans aimed at depriving the Arabs of their lands and their means of support by making them emigrate and taking possession of their lands, in violation of the principles of international law and especially the Hague Convention of 1907 and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.
There is no need to highlight the danger which the pursuit of such a policy poses to international peace and security this policy unquestionably runs counter to international efforts for peace aimed at bringing about a just and comprehensive solution to the question of the Middle East, and militates against the prospects for peace in the region.
I should be grateful if you would have this letter and its annex circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under item 73 of the preliminary 1ist, and of the Security Council.
Israeli colonization activities during the month of May 1986
1. The Israeli occupation authorities confiscated a total of 554 dunums of land in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip during the month of May 1986 for the purpose of colonial settlement. These lands are located as follows.
|
Area in dunums
|
Location of confiscated land
|
Date of confiscation
|
|
80
60
60
35
319
|
District of Al-Sheikh 'Ajnin on the Gaza coast
Near the settlement of Nifat Yam in Gaza
Village of Al-Khadr south of Bethlehem
Village of Kafal Haris, district of Tulkarm
Lands of Abu Medin south of Gaza near the settlement of Netzarim
|
4 May 1986
22 May 1986
28 May 1986
30 May 1986
30 May 1986
|
2c During the same month, the Israeli occupation authorities also established the following three settlements:
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Name of settlement
|
Location
|
Date of establishment
|
|
Kadim
Ghan Nir
Daujit
|
In the northern part of the district of Nablus
North of the Al-Jalbu' mountains in the lands of Ibn 'Amir
Between Ashkelon and Gaza
|
29 May 1986
29 May 1986
8 May 1986
|
3. The main news items on colonial settlement carried by the press in the occupied territories during the month of May 1986 were as follows:
1. According to the newspaper Al-Quds of 25 May 1986, Matityahu Drobles, head of the Settlement Department of the Jewish Agency , announced on 20 May 1986 that "the Agency intends to establish two new settlements in the Gaza Strip near the settlement Netzarim".
2. The newspaper Al-Sha'b of 9 May 1986 quoted an Israeli military spokesman as stating that, on the night of 7 May 1986, 32 Israeli settlers had been arrested while trying to build a settlement in the Gaza Strip in protest against a project to transfer Palestinian refugees from the camp of Kanda near Rafah to Tell a1-Sultan.
3. The newspaper Al-Fajr of 16 May 1986 reported that, on the morning of 15 May 1986, members of the settlement Ma'aleh Adumim had used bulldozers to raid the waqf property of the Al-Khan al-Ahmar mosque and the adjoining buildings, claiming that the awqaf authorities possessed 20 dunums of land around the mosque and had been renting out the land for decades under formal agreements.
4. The newspaper Al-Sha'b of 21 May 1986, quoting the Israeli daily Davar, reported that Ariel Sharon, Israel's Minister of Industry and Trade, had said that a study was under way concerning the possibility of establishing a new settlement in the district of Al-Khalil in order to construct an industrial complex. He was reported to have issued instructions to the competent officials in the ministry for an immediate start on the execution of the plans to establish two large industrial centres in the district, one covering an area of 600 dunums in the vicinity of the Dura intersection, and the second covering 60 dunums in Tella near the settlement of Qiryat Arba.
5. The newspaper Al-Fajr of 25 May 1986, quoting the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, reported that the Israeli water company Makoriot would cut off the water supply for irrigation to 75 Israeli settlements in the Al-Aghwar district, and that it had a1ready done so in the case of 25 settlements there. According to Ha'aretz, the Israeli Minister of Agriculture would submit the matter to the Israeli Government and would request a 10-per-cent reduction in the water rate. Ha'aretz had added that the settlements owed the water company $5 million and that the company would supply them with only limited quantities of water, for domestic purposes only.
6. According to the newspaper Al-Sha'b of 9 May 1986, the members of the settlement Mashu'a in the Jordan Valley had decided, starting on the morning of 8 May 1986, to barricade themselves inside their agricultural settlement and to lock the gates, because the settlement had gone bankrupt owing to the debts accumulated by its members.
7. The newspaper Al-Fajr of 23 May 1986 carried a report that 40 families from the settlement Fird Ariha situated in the Jordan Valley near the town of Jericho had decided to leave the settlement in protest against the critical economic situation in it and to hand over their weapons to the Israeli army. They laid they had received the sum of $250,000 from the Israeli Ministry of Housing and had transferred it to the purchasing unit of the Israeli Farmers' Union. However, the unit had gone bankrupt leaving sums owed to the Israeli water company, which had therefore cut off the settlement's water supply, causing the loss of the grape harvest, the settlers' sole crop. According to the newspaper report, one member of the settlement had said that the members owed tens of thousands of dollars to the Arab inhabitants of Jericho, who were now demanding the return of their money.
