Israel Builds Fabric Of Life Tunnel To Isolate Palestinians In Southern West Bank

An underground tunnel project called Fabric of Life is set to become the only link between 1.5 million Palestinians in the southern West Bank and the rest of the territory, according to Association France Palestine Solidarité.

“An underground tunnel will soon be the only link between 1”

Association France Palestine Solidarité

The project, approved by the Israeli government earlier this month, would cost $90 billion and would be covered from a special fund funded by pirated Palestinian customs money collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, the article says.

Association France Palestine Solidarité

Association France Palestine Solidarité says the tunnel would bypass the desert region east of Jerusalem so that all space between Jerusalem and the edges of the Jordan Valley would be accessible only to Israelis, effectively splitting the West Bank in two.

The same source frames the broader context as part of a Greater Jerusalem development plan devised in the early 2000s under then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and it says the Fabric of Life project would deprive the entire West Bank east of Jerusalem of Palestinian movement.

It also links the timing to the current right-wing coalition of Benjamin Netanyahu, saying it rushed to accelerate annexation of the West Bank under the pretext of the ongoing war against Gaza launched by Israel following the October 7 attacks.

L'Humanité says Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, announced the construction of a new settlement meant to isolate East Jerusalem from the Palestinian territories and split the West Bank in two, with the end result described as annexation.

The article says Smotrich traveled on Thursday, August 14, to the settlement of Maale Adumim, which it describes as seven kilometers east of Jerusalem and thirteen kilometers from the Jordan Valley.

Ici Beyrouth

Ici Beyrouth reports that Netanyahu’s office said the Security Cabinet approved last night the proposal of Defense Minister Israel Katz for alternative roads that would lead to a new road network in the Ma’ale Adumim region.

Ici Beyrouth quotes Netanyahu as saying, "The new road will benefit all residents of the region, enabling smooth traffic, improving security and establishing a strategic link between Jerusalem, Ma’ale Adumim, and the Jordan Valley," and it adds that Peace Now denounced the plan as a "new road of apartheid."

Mondoweiss describes a separate roads push as a "New $270 million Israeli-only roads project in the West Bank" and says it is Netanyahu’s latest bid to impose de facto annexation.

Association France Palestine Solidarité says Fabric of Life, together with another project called Sovereignty Road approved in 2007, would deprive the entire West Bank east of Jerusalem of Palestinian movement by making underground tunnels the only routes accessible to Palestinians.

“Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, announced the construction of a new settlement that will isolate East Jerusalem from the Palestinian territories and split the West Bank in two”

L'Humanité

It adds that Sovereignty Road includes the construction of another underground tunnel under Route 1 linking the south of the West Bank to the center, which it says would be the only road accessible to Palestinians and would free the surface road for the exclusive use of Israelis.

Mondoweiss frames the stakes as de facto annexation and says the road network is part of a broader plan to cut off Palestinian communities around Jerusalem from the heart of the city and extend Israeli settlements into the eastern edges known as E-1.

The article also says Israeli anti-occupation group Peace reported that the Israeli government approved $270 million for a network of roads to connect 20 unofficial settler outposts and official settlements across the West Bank.

Mondoweiss quotes Palestinian geographer Khalil Tafakji as saying Israel is "laying the infrastructure for a full separation from the Palestinians" and that the roads are designed to function independently from the Palestinian West Bank population.