Peace Now, an extremist left-wing organization that opposes Jews living in Judea and Samaria, is furious that in the past year, seven Jewish communities were established in Judea and Samaria in regions designated in the 1993 Oslo Accords as Area B.
“After seizing control of Area C and systematically displacing Palestinians through house demolitions and settler violence, settlers have now set their sights on Area B,” Peace Now wrote on its website. “The Israeli government’s annexation plans are not limited to Area C. By enabling settlers to establish outposts deep in Area B, the government blatantly violates another critical element of the Oslo Accords. If we do not act today, we will find ourselves returning to full military rule across the entire West Bank.”
It should be emphasized that Israel did not “seize control” of Area C. In the Oslo Accords signed by the Palestinian Authority, Area C, comprising approximately 60 percent of all of Judea and Samaria, will remain under complete Israeli control, including concerning land registration, planning, and zoning.
The term ‘West Bank’ used by Peace Now refers to the region more correctly referred to as Judea and Samaria.
Peace Now reported that five Jewish communities were established in the Judean Desert Nature Reserve in the Gush Etzion region located east and south of Bethlehem.
Earlier this month, the Israeli government began dismantling Palestinian buildings built illegally inside a nature reserve. Under the terms of the 1998 Wye River Memorandum, the Palestinians agreed not to build in the 41,000-acre reserve. According to sources in the Ministry of Defense, for decades, the Palestinian Authority has carried out massive construction in the areas of the reserve in blatant violation of the agreements and causing damage to the regional fabric.
Two additional Jewish communities were established near Ramallah—one south of the settlement of Ofra and another on lands south of the community of Adi Ad and Amichai.
According to the Oslo Accords, Area B is administered by both the Palestinian Authority and Israel. The Palestinian Authority rejected the Oslo Accords after the failure of the Camp David Summit in 2000, responding by launching the Second Intifada.
Naomi Kahn, Regavim’s International Director, was unable to verify whether Israelis have set up caravans or tents in the Wye-designated Nature Reserve.
“Since the Israeli government announced its decision to take responsibility for the protection of the reserve three months ago, our field staff has not conducted a field survey of the area,’ Khan told Israel365 News. “What I am at liberty to comment on is the massive violation by the Palestinian Authority of the Wye Accords (Oslo III) since day one, which has resulted in the nightmare reality which the Israeli government has finally decided to tackle.”
“There were when we last documented the situation on the ground (2023), 3040 illegal Arab structures in the nature reserve, an area designated as a zero construction zone when it was placed under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction in 1998.”
It should be noted that when the Wye River memorandum was signed in 1998, there were 268 structures in the nature reserve.
“Even worse perhaps are the 633.78 kilometers of roads the PA has laid,” Khan continued. “It is unthinkable that this should be permitted in a nature reserve. Aside from the insane violation of international law, this is a devastating blow to a unique and delicate desert ecosystem, one of the principal lifelines of the Dead Sea and the Judean Desert. The massive pollution of air, earth, and streams and the decimation of rare wildlife and desert flora is an appalling violation of nature, which the Palestinian Authority has orchestrated, approved, facilitated – and supported with the help of massive European funding.”
“How strange that we did not hear a peep from Peace Now over the past 25 years as the massive Arab villas were being built, roads were being paved, and raw industrial waste was being dumped and burned in the nature reserve.”:
