Israel razes dozens of Palestinian shops to pave way for illegal settlement road
Israel has destroyed dozens of Palestinian shops on the edge of a town southeast of al-Quds to make way for a road being built to serve nearby Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The demolitions, which targeted buildings such as car washes, scrap metal shops, and vegetable stands, took place on Tuesday in the town of Al-Eizariya. Some owners had received evacuation notices less than a week earlier.
Rights groups and the Palestinian Authority say the planned tunnel-and-bypass road will reroute Palestinian traffic away from a major Israeli highway that links nearby West Bank settlements to al-Quds, effectively cutting Palestinian drivers off from large swaths of the territory.
“The shops that were demolished are where Israel is planning to build a new road that will divert all Palestinian traffic so they can close down the whole E1 area to Palestinians,” said Hagit Ofran, director of the anti-settlement group Peace Now.
Israel’s controversial E1 project near al-Quds covers roughly 12 square kilometers and involves around 3,400 settler units in the West Bank.
The project stretches from the outskirts of al-Quds deep into the occupied territory, isolating the cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem and restricting north–south Palestinian movement. It is widely viewed as an effort to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Attorneys appealed the demolitions up to Israel’s Supreme Court, but the destruction proceeded regardless.
Mohammad Abu Ghalieh, a 48-year-old shop owner, said he was stunned to find that everything he had worked for was gone. “Forty-eight years of night and day to build something for his children and himself, and in one day and one night, everything was gone,” he said.
Daoud al-Jahalin, head of a nearby village council, said more than 200 families would lose their incomes as a result.
Palestinians say it is nearly impossible to obtain proper construction permits from Israeli authorities, even as Israeli settlements continue to expand rapidly.
More than 700,000 Israelis now live in over 230 settlements established since the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.
The international community considers these settlements illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions due to their construction on occupied land.
The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in multiple resolutions.
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