Jerusalem: Israeli occupation authorities have notified the lawyer representing Bedouin communities and the municipality of Al-Eizariya, east of occupied Jerusalem, of their intention to begin actual implementation of the controversial colonization project known as the ‘Fabric of Life,’ following a 45-day notice issued by the so-called Israeli military prosecution.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA, the Jerusalem Governorate released a statement noting that the project constitutes a practical step toward implementing Israel’s annexation plan for the E1 area. The plan aims to create full geographic continuity between the Ma’ale Adumim colony and occupied Jerusalem, effectively severing the northern and central West Bank from the south and incorporating nearly three percent of the West Bank into the ‘Greater Jerusalem’ plan.
The governorate warned that the project would establish a system of traffic apartheid, whereby Palestinians would be barred from using the main Road No. 1 and instead forced into an underground tunnel near the Al-Za’ayem military checkpoint. The surface road would be reserved exclusively for colonists.
The statement also highlighted that the plan would isolate the communities of Jabal al-Baba and Wadi al-Jamal, as well as the town of Al-Eizariya. It poses a threat of demolition and evacuation to dozens of structures, with at least 43 recently receiving demolition notices in preparation for the project’s expansion.
Furthermore, the occupation authorities are reportedly engaging in financial appropriation to fund the project. Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has approved financing the road, estimated at $98 million, from withheld Palestinian clearance revenues.
The statement claimed that the move is an attempt to mislead the international community by presenting the road as beneficial to Palestinians, despite engineering plans indicating it is designed to facilitate colonists’ movement and remove visible obstacles at the expense of the Palestinian presence.
The Jerusalem Governorate cautioned that the project represents one of the most severe blows to the viability of a contiguous Palestinian state. They called on the international community to take concrete action beyond condemnation to halt the ongoing process of de facto annexation and ethnic cleansing targeting Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and its surroundings.