Knesset Bill Grants Israel Exclusive Control Over West Bank Antiquities And Archaeological Sites

A bill debated in the Knesset aims to place under exclusive Israeli control antiquities and archaeological sites in the West Bank, and its text also seeks to include the Gaza Strip within its scope, according to The Times of Israël.

The Times of Israël says the bill’s first clause would affirm the direct responsibility of the State of Israel in the preservation of antiquities, heritage, and archaeological sites in Judea and Samaria, and its second clause defines the geographic scope as the Judea and Samaria region with a note that it would apply to Areas A, B, and C.

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The Times of Israël adds that under the 1993 Oslo Accords the Palestinian Authority was to exercise full civil and security control over Area A and civil control over Area B, while Area C is under full Israeli control.

In parallel, Le Parisien describes the Knesset bill as placing under exclusive Israeli control the entire set of archaeological sites in the West Bank in violation of the 1993 accords, and it situates the dispute in Sebastia in the north of the occupied territory.

Le Parisien quotes Subhi Yasmeen, a 66-year-old Palestinian farmer in Sebastia, saying, "This land has been handed down to us from generation to generation, for hundreds of years."

In the occupied West Bank, L'Orient-Le Jour reports that Israeli army bulldozers demolished the home in Bazzaryah of Malek al-Jabar Salem, described as one of the alleged attackers in a July 10 attack that killed an Israeli in a commercial area near the Gush Etzion junction.

L'Orient-Le Jour says the Israeli army stated that it demolished the home of the terrorist who carried out the attack with a firearm and knife, during which Shalev Zvuluni was killed.

Al-Jazeera Net

In Jenin-area raids described by Association France Palestine Solidarité, Israeli forces raided a house in the town of Qabatiya south of Jenin on December 3, tearing a map of Palestine off the wall and confiscating another, while a mother and her 11-year-old daughter were detained for several hours and subjected to on-site interrogations.

Association France Palestine Solidarité quotes Noura Muhammad telling Mondoweiss that the Israeli soldiers asked if there was “gold or money” in the house when they arrived.

The same account says the Israeli army chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, described operations during a visit to the West Bank as “preventive offensive activities.”

Association France Palestine Solidarité frames the northern West Bank escalation as part of an effort to create a “new security reality” that would allow unhindered resettlement in Jenin-area zones that Israel had evacuated in 2005.

The article says Israeli authorities approved the construction of 764 new settlement units in the West Bank on December 10, bringing the total number of units approved by the government since late 2022 to 51,370.

It also cites Peace Now as monitoring settlements and says more than 700,000 settlers currently reside in the territory, including about 250,000 in East Jerusalem.

WAFA reports that on Tuesday evening Israeli occupation forces notified a Palestinian of the imminent seizure of his home in Silat al-Harithiya village, west of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, and it says bulldozers continued to raze lands to lay the groundwork for new colonist roads.

WAFA adds that the forces handed a Palestinian a military order notifying him of the intention to seize his house purportedly for military purposes, while Association France Palestine Solidarité quotes Khaled Bdair, Al-Ghad TV correspondent for the north of the West Bank, saying the aim is to impose total military control over the region in order to “change its geography.”