Settlers Accuse Jordan of Attempting to Take over Zones in West Bank

Israeli soldiers and Palestinian protesters in the Jordan Valley. AFP file photo
Israeli soldiers and Palestinian protesters in the Jordan Valley. AFP file photo
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Settlers Accuse Jordan of Attempting to Take over Zones in West Bank

Israeli soldiers and Palestinian protesters in the Jordan Valley. AFP file photo
Israeli soldiers and Palestinian protesters in the Jordan Valley. AFP file photo

A news website in Tel Aviv has claimed that a Jordanian organization is attempting to take over Israel’s Area C in the West Bank via its afforesting activities.

The Arab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN) is a Jordanian organization based in Amman, according to website “0404” affiliated with settlers.

It claims to focus on protecting natural resources in Arab countries, the website revealed.

However, in practice, most of its activity is in Israel, and it seeks to take over Israeli territory by planting millions of trees.

The organization’s data shows that it donated 2,434,452 trees, most of them to Gaza, Hebron, Bethlehem, Jenin, Tulkarm, and Jerusalem.

The website demanded that the Israeli government inquires the Jordanian authorities regarding certain Jordanian parties publicly working against settlements after the organization received a letter of appreciation from Jordanian Minister of Information Amjad Adaileh.

The organization’s representative in the Palestinian Authority, Ibrahim Amin Mantsara, said in an interview that its goal is to “cultivate land within the settlements.”

According to data from the Jordanian organization, tens of thousands of trees have been planted throughout the West Bank in recent months.

Some 37,000 fruit trees were planted as part of the project to preserve natural resources in areas under threat of annexation in the Jordan Valley.

In addition, 8,000 trees were planted in the area of Beit Iksa in the Jerusalem area, and 3,000 trees in the Arab village of Bedu near Jerusalem.

Another 500 trees were planted in Salfit, south of the city of Ariel, and special emphasis was placed on the areas of the Jordan Valley, Bethlehem and Hebron.



Gaza Rescuers Say at Least 18 Killed in Israeli Strikes

A view of destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 15 September 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
A view of destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 15 September 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
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Gaza Rescuers Say at Least 18 Killed in Israeli Strikes

A view of destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 15 September 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
A view of destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 15 September 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

Gaza rescuers and medics said Israeli airstrikes killed at least 18 people across the Palestinian territory overnight and on Monday morning, including 10 in one attack on a house.

The 10 were killed and 15 others were injured when an airstrike hit the home of the Al-Qassas family in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, a medic at Al-Awda hospital, where the bodies were brought, told AFP.

Gaza's civil defense agency confirmed the death toll, with its spokesman Mahmoud Bassal saying the strike took place on Monday morning.

The agency said six Palestinians were killed in a similar airstrike during the night on a house belonging to the Bassal family in Gaza City's Zeitun neighbourhood, a regular target of Israeli military raids since the war began in October.

Two people were killed in another overnight airstrike in Rafah that targeted a house belonging to the Abu Shaar family, the agency said.

Several people were also wounded in these strikes, medics and rescuers said.

Israeli airstrikes and artillery shelling have continued relentlessly amid an impasse over a ceasefire deal to facilitate the release of remaining hostages in Gaza in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

The war in Gaza erupted after the October 7 attack by Palestinian Hamas militants on southern Israel.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive has so far killed at least 41,206 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry.