US Mulls More Steps in Response to ’Israel’s’ Land Grab in Occupied WB: Haaretz

Local Editor

The Obama administration is considering taking further action regarding "Israel's" expropriation of 1,000 acres of occupied West Bank land recently this week, on top of the condemnation Washington has already issued, according to the "Israeli" Haaretz daily on Friday.

"Maybe our reaction will find expression in other ways," a senior US official told Haaretz, but declined to give details.

"Israel" announced plans on Sunday to expropriate 400 hectares [988 acres], of Palestinian land in the Bethlehem area in the south of the occupied West Bank, the military said.

A senior "Israeli" official said, meanwhile, that the expropriation announcement "drove the Americans nuts." In recent days senior officials in the Obama administration have sent extremely sharply worded messages to Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, Haaretz wrote.

The protest by Washington was also expressed in a telephone conversation between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Netanyahu on Tuesday night.

Moreover, the US State Department said in a statement that "Israel's" expropriation was "deeply concerning." It urged occupied al-Quds to "reverse the decision."

Additionally, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the decision to expropriate the land, and reports of further settlement construction in East occupied al-Quds and the occupied West Bank, sent a "very troubling message."

However, sources have told Haaretz that this statement did not fully convey the administration's anger.
Netanyahu's advisers said that the move had taken the prime minister's aides by surprise; War Minister Moshe Ya'alon had not coordinated it with them. The aides had not been informed in advance about the Civil Administration's announcement, or the timing.

An aide to Ya'alon confirmed that the prime minister's aides had not been told of the move. He said this was not necessary because it was only a technical procedure.

Despite the absence of a cabinet decision, Ya'alon instructed the Civil Administration to advance the administrative procedures for expropriating the land.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team