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.



Israeli Minister Says Time Running out for Diplomatic Solution with Hezbollah in Lebanon

Israeli artillery shells an area of Al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 11 September 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli artillery shells an area of Al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 11 September 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
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Israeli Minister Says Time Running out for Diplomatic Solution with Hezbollah in Lebanon

Israeli artillery shells an area of Al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 11 September 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
Israeli artillery shells an area of Al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Upper Galilee, northern Israel, 11 September 2024. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday that the window was closing for a diplomatic solution to the standoff with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon.

Gallant's remarks came as the White House Special envoy Amos Hochstein visited Israel to discuss the crisis on the northern border where Israeli troops have been exchanging missile fire with Hezbollah forces for months.

"The possibility for an agreed framework in the northern arena is running out," Gallant told Austin in a phone call, according to a statement from his office, Reuters reported.

As long as Hezbollah continued to tie itself to Hamas in Gaza, where Israeli forces have been engaged for almost a year, "the trajectory is clear," he said.

The visit by Hochstein, who is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, comes amid efforts to find a diplomatic path out of the crisis, which has forced tens of thousands on both sides of the border to leave their homes.

On Monday, Israeli media reported that the head of the army's northern command had recommended a rapid border operation to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

While the war in Gaza has been Israel's main focus since the attack by Hamas-led gunmen on Oct. 7 last year, the precarious situation in the north has fuelled fears of a regional conflict that could drag in the United States and Iran.

A missile barrage by Hezbollah the day after Oct. 7 opened the latest phase of conflict and since then there have been daily exchanges of rockets, artillery fire and missiles, with Israeli jets striking deep into Lebanese territory.

Hezbollah has said it does not seek a wider war at present but would fight if Israel launched one.

Israeli officials have said for months that Israel cannot accept the clearance of its northern border areas indefinitely but while troops remain committed to Gaza, there have also been questions about the military's readiness for an invasion of southern Lebanon.

However, some of the hardline members of the Israeli government have been pressing for action and on Monday, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a longtime foe of Gallant, called for him to be sacked.

"We need a decision in the north and Gallant is not the right person to lead it," he said in a statement on the social media platform X.

Hundreds of Hezbollah fighters and dozens of Israeli soldiers and civilians have been killed in the exchanges of fire, which have left communities on both sides of the border as virtual ghost towns.