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.



Israel Says it Killed a Hezbollah Member in Drone Strike in South Lebanon

A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)
A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)
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Israel Says it Killed a Hezbollah Member in Drone Strike in South Lebanon

A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)
A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)

An Israeli drone strike hit a car in south Lebanon on Saturday, killing one person who the Israeli military said was a member of Hezbollah.

State-run National News Agency did not give further details about the strike in the village of Bourj el-Mlouk.

The airstrike was the latest in a wave of such attacks since a US-brokered ceasefire went into effect in late November ending the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

The Israeli military said the Hezbollah member who was killed was active in the border village of Kfar Kila.

The strike came a day after Lebanon’s military court sentenced two people to prison terms for giving digital information to Israel.

Four judicial officials told The Associated Press Saturday that one of those sentenced received a 15-year prison term while the other was sentenced to 10 years in jail. A third was set free for lack of evidence against him, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share information with the media.

The officials said the two scanned the cellular telephones network in wide areas of Beirut and its southern suburbs that is home to Hezbollah’s headquarters using sophisticated equipment.

The officials said the two, who were detained last year, also supplied Israel with about 1,500 photographs from Beirut’s southern suburbs.