Israel plans new building projects for South Hebron Hills

Israel is planning a number of large construction projects in the Occupied West Bank, amid fraught ties with the United States and European Union over expanding illegal settlements.

Israel’s Civil Administration for the West Bank has a “strategic plan” to build industrial parks, a medical centre, and houses in the South Hebron Hills region, according to a document seen by Haaretz and reported on Monday.

The document was sent in January from the then head of civil administration, Brigadier General David Menachem, to the head of the Har Hebron Regional Council, Yochai Damari.

The civil administration told Haaretz that the slated construction projects have not advanced since the plan was formulated in January.

“No plans for building these centres have been submitted to the planning agencies,” the administration said.

The document did not state how many new homes are planned to be built in the South Hebron Hills region, but it added that any new plans would have to be approved by the government.

The South Hebron Hills region has hit the headlines in recent months over the planned demolition of the Palestinian village of Susiya.

Inhabitants of Susiya, a small village of 500 people who live in tents and makeshift structures, were forced out of their homes in 1986. They now live opposite a settlement of the same name and complain of regular violence carried out by Israeli soldiers.

American and European Union officials have warned Israel not to demolish Susiya. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is yet to issue his opinion on whether the village is to be demolished or not.

The Civil Administration plan for the area called for two new industrial sites to be built – including two shopping centres, one to be built near the settlement of Tene Omarim and the other near the Palestinian village of Tarqumiya.

The industrial centres would serve “both Israelis and Palestinians” according to the document.

While the document said new houses would have to be approved by the Israeli government, there was no such stipulation for the industrial sites or planned new medical centre to be constructed near the settlement of Adorayim.

The Har Hebron Regional Council is made up of 15 settlements that have around 8,500 Israelis living in them – these settlements are deemed illegal under international law, although Israel contests this.

The head of the regional council, Damari, told Haaretz: “We’re extending a hand to our Arab neighbours for neighbourly peace, the kind that recognises the reality down below, on the ground.”