“Israel” to Resume Forestation Plan in Al-Naqab Near Palestinian Villages

By Staff, Agencies

The “Israeli” government is set to resume a controversial plan to plant trees in the Negev desert in close proximity to Palestinian towns.

The entity’s so-called Minister of Housing and Construction Zeev Elkin, a Knesset member of the New Hope party, said that the Jewish National Fund [JNF] forestation plan would resume "soon", according to the national broadcaster Kan.

Almost 300,000 Palestinians live in Negev [al-Naqab], the largest and southernmost territory.

In December and January, hundreds protested against the JNF forestation plan, which they claim is a pretext to pushing them out from their lands to make way for new “Israeli” towns.

The plan was put on hold temporarily after the feared collapse of the government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in January. Raam, the party which part of the governing coalition and has an electoral base in the Negev, threatened not to endorse Bennett's government in any upcoming votes over the project.

Pro-settlement parties in the Knesset had supported the JNF's plan, namely the Likud and far-right Religious Zionist bloc. Elkin was a member of the Likud and left in December 2020 to join the New Hope which was formed by another Likud's defector, Gideon Saar.

The forestation plan saw “Israeli” police and JNF workers bulldozing crops that belonged to Palestinians in the area of al-Naqe and al-Atrash villages in December and January.

Last week, the “Israeli” entity said that it intended to build two major “Israeli” towns in the Negev [al-Naqab] desert as part of a settlement expansion plan in close proximity to areas where Palestinians live.

The plan would house between 100,000 and 125,000 “Israelis” in a settlement located in the outskirts of the Palestinian village of Kasifa and the Palestinian-majority town of Tel Arad.

The “Israeli” entity said that Kasif would be essential to solving the country’s settlement crisis and providing units for the ultra-orthodox community. Currently, there is a shortage of about 40,000 units for the “Israeli” ultra-orthodox community. The second town in the plan is dedicated to non-religious Jews near the border with Egypt.

However, there are almost 100,000 Palestinians living in these 35 “unrecognized” villages in the Negev [al-Naqab].

The entity claims that Palestinians have no right to lands of “unrecognized” villages. It has deployed "Green Police" units to prohibit them from planting seasonal fruits and vegetables and limit their cattle-grazing areas.

“Unrecognized” villages are denied any infrastructure or support from the government. There are no means of transportation, no roads, no schools, and “Israeli” authorities don't collaborate with their local leadership.