WEST BANK (Dispatches) – The Zionist regime is planning to build a new park on nearly 1 million dunums (247,000 acres) of land in the occupied West Bank between Al-Quds and the Dead Sea, Israel Hayom has reported.
The park will stretch between the illegal settlements of Kochav Hashahar north-east of occupied Al-Quds and Gush Etzion.
The area has long been considered a red line and a point of no return for the internationally-backed so-called ‘two-state solution’.
The announcement comes after the Zionist war ministry reapproved a plan to advance a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank earlier this month. The regime withdrew the plan in January amid international pressure.
Meanwhile, a new report has revealed that Zionist troops demolished about 1,032 Palestinian homes and buildings in the occupied cities of West Bank and East Al-Quds in 2021.
According to a report published by Land Research Center of the Arab Studies Society on Sunday, 361 Palestinian-owned structures were demolished during that period, displacing 1,834 Palestinians, including 954 children, the Palestinian Information Center reported.
The report also pointed out that Zionist troops demolished 671 facilities providing various services for more than 5,455 Palestinians, including 2,600 children and 1,800 women.
It further said 93 wells that supplied water for 1,800 dunums of Palestinian agricultural land were demolished last year, in addition to 216 barns housing more than 16,400 heads of sheep.
The Zionist regime routinely demolishes Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank and East Al-Quds, claiming that the structures have been built without permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. They also sometimes order Palestinian owners to demolish their own houses or pay the costs of the demolition.
The report also noted that Zionist troops killed have killed at least five Palestinians and arrested more than 1,738 others, including children and women, in the West Bank and Al-Quds since the beginning of the year.