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Netanyahu allocates huge budget for settlement bypass roads in West Bank

A picture taken on October 13, 2020, shows new housing construction in the Nokdim settlement in the Israeli occupied West Bank, south of the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. (Photo by AFP)

Mona Kandil
Press TV, Ramallah

Israeli media revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has developed a plan to construct new byroads throughout the occupied West Bank to serve Israeli settlers.

The Palestinian Authority’s anti-settlement commission said the aim of these roads is to link West Bank settlements together and at the same time to connect them directly to Jerusalem al-Quds and the territories occupied in 1948. They say it’s part of efforts to implement the annexation plan.

Commentators say Israel knows that paving the bypass roads will lead to an acceleration of the settlement activities and this means more confiscation of Palestinian lands. They add that the Netanyahu regime is seeking to impose more restrictions on the West Bank.

At the end of the day, if Netanyahu wants to succeed in controlling the Jordan Valley and the settlements in the West Bank, he has no way but to take full control of the major roads. The same applies to all roads around Jerusalem al-Quds which function as critical link between the holy city and the settlements that surround it.

Experts say Netanyahu's temporary alternative to annexation means new separation roads and more settlement units. That is why Israelis argue that it is vital to control the roads to and from Israeli settlements because if these roads fall under Palestinian control, Tel Aviv will have no say in what is built on either side.


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