The Israeli ministerial committee tackling the annexation of the Jordan Valley held its first meeting, despite international criticism and warnings from International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda that this could be among the investigations against Israeli officials involved in war crimes against Palestinians.
The committee is chaired by director general of the Prime Minister’s Office, Ronen Peretz, and its representatives include the ministries of foreign affairs and other officials.
Political sources said the meeting was held at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s order, despite his admission to legal difficulties in pushing such a step during the term of the transitional government, and his concern about the ICC prosecutor’s warnings.
The sources indicated that Netanyahu set up this committee to show that he has not backed down from his annexation vow and to assure right-wing parties that he has not yielded to international pressure.
Committee members are working on a draft government resolution or bill that will be presented to the Knesset for the “official annexation” of the Jordan Valley.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian official who monitors settlement activity in the Jordan Valley/Tubas district, Mutaz Bisharat, said that Israel confiscated tens of thousands of acres of the area.
He explained that 100,000 dunums of the Jordan Valley territory had been confiscated by Israel, which had recently declared them closed military areas in an attempt to seize Palestinian lands and turn them over to settlers.
In an interview with Voice of Palestine radio, he added that Israel and settlers carry out daily raids of people’s land in the Valley. Moreover, Israeli courts have legalized all occupation measures, such as the confiscation of lands and agricultural tractors and the demolition of homes.
The Valley covers around 720,000 dunums and constitutes a quarter of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including Jericho. A total of 50,000 people reside in the area, which is 2 percent of the total Palestinian population in the West Bank.
Israel claims it controls 400,000 dunums for military areas, which constitute 55.5 percent of the total area of the Valley. Palestinians are not allowed to engage in any agricultural, urban, or other activity in these areas.
Netanyahu had declared during his electoral campaign in September last year that he would work on “imposing Israeli sovereignty” over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea, in coordination with the administration of US President, Donald Trump, should he win the polls.
Israel’s attorney general Avichai Mandelblit has repeatedly warned the PM and his government that the annexation would lead to the opening of an international criminal investigation against Israel.
