Israeli settlers using archaeological digs as cover to take Palestinian land: British govt

Palestinian residents of the area blamed the excavations for the collapse of a number of their buildings

Israeli settlers are encroaching Palestinian land under the facade of settling in to protect historical archaeological sites, the British government has said.

Ministers say they fear the efforts for peace in the region to be sabotaged by the “radical” settlers working with the Israeli government.

The ‘Elad’ settler group is known for belligerently colonising Palestinian areas, while taking ownership of buildings with the intention of removing Palestinian residents from homes in urban areas.

Conservative Foreign Office minister Baroness Anelay told The Independent: “We are aware of the link between the Elad [settler] group and the Israel Antiquities Authority. We are concerned that this link has led to Israel Antiquities Authority’s support of radical settler activities in and around the Old City under the guise of tourism and protection of Jewish history,”

“Such actions not only aggravate mounting pressures in East Jerusalem but serve to increase tension around the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif and further complicate future attempts to negotiate a political resolution on the city.”

Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem complained of a number of their buildings collapsing near their homes and mosques, an area where Elad had paid Israel Antiquities Authority to dig deeper trenches.

In one instance last week, Elad settlers are reported to have entered an apartment building in East Jerusalem and forcefully removing the belongings of people living there. This takeover of 25 apartments was reported to be the largest in decades.

This included a woman who had been summoned to a local police station with her child when the intruders removed her belongings from the apartment and took possession of the house.

Denying all allegations in a statement, the group claimed they were not indulging in any illegal takeovers, the homes had been purchased 20 years ago, and that it had “exercised its rights.”

Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and the United Nations has repeatedly urged Israel to vacate occupied Palestinian territory.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged this month during the country’s general election there would be no Palestinian state, although he later renounced his statement.

According to the United States government, a plan to expand illegal settlements by 450 homes would “inflame tensions.”

This story was originally published in The Independent