Situation Assessment issued by the National Popular Conference for Jerusalem: The occupation invents a "new Jerusalem" in Kafr Aqab and imposes annexation on surrounding areas, creating a buffer security zone to secure settlers who will soon be brought to the airport area.

The General Secretariat of the National Popular Conference for Jerusalem affirmed that the arbitrary measures of the occupation in Jerusalem and its surroundings, especially what is happening in the Bedouin communities in Jabal al-Baba, Mukhamas, and others, in addition to the continuous incursions into Qalandia refugee camp, the airport road area, Hizma town, and Shuafat refugee camp, aim to achieve a major political goal, which is "annexation" that Netanyahu's government has announced more than once. It noted that this operation, which violates the political agreements signed with the Palestine Liberation Organization and under international patronage, is being implemented on the ground today to become a fait accompli over time. 

The General Secretariat added that these dangerous measures also aim to displace the Bedouin families living in the mountains and desert of Jerusalem to make the area free of an authentic advanced Palestinian front that constitutes the first line of defense against settlement and replacement colonialism, which has come to control strategic locations in the occupied city and the Palestinian West Bank. 

The General Secretariat considered that the invasion by the occupation forces over the past few days, which is still ongoing, of Qalandia refugee camp, Kafr Aqab, and Hizma town, and the targeting of the UNRWA headquarters in Shuafat refugee camp, under the pretext of enforcing the law and removing encroachments and violations on streets and sidewalks, aims to mislead and obscure the political goal of this operation, which is annexation and isolating these areas from the capital Jerusalem, and imposing Israeli will in this vicinity, which includes about 300,000 people, most of whom were displaced from the holy city and currently reside in the Kafr Aqab area. 

The General Secretariat, in a situation assessment issued by the Media Unit of the National Popular Conference for Jerusalem today, Wednesday, indicated that Israel has practically begun to confine Jerusalem to the Old City and the city to be of a Jewish majority and a Palestinian minority, after succeeding in the forced displacement plan in which it used economic warfare and the weapon of geography against Jerusalemites, forcing them to search for an alternative for their livelihoods and secure suitable housing for their families after the occupation municipality, the executive arm of the Likud government, tightened the noose on them from all sides, which forced them, under the weight of these great pressures, to move towards the outskirts of Jerusalem. 

The General Secretariat added that what is happening in Qalandia refugee camp and Kafr Aqab specifically aims at annexation par excellence, explaining that the occupation authorities announced that their operations in the area aim to remove random encroachments, illegal buildings, and collect illegal cars, while the undeclared goal is to create a buffer security zone extending from the airport area to the end of the back street of Kafr Aqab, which connects it to the city of Al-Bireh. This means that the occupation authorities want to provide this security depth to secure the families of settlers who will reside in a new settlement being built in the heart of Qalandia International Airport, comprising about 9,000 settlement units, with an average of 45,000 settlers who will be a ticking time bomb capable of exploding at any moment in this highly sensitive area. 

It continued in its assessment of what is happening: The military operation in Qalandia, Kafr Aqab, and Hizma specifically cannot be separated from what happened recently in the neighboring town of Qalandia, where demolition notices were distributed and implemented quickly under the pretext that they were built in "Area C," which constitutes 61 percent of the total area of the West Bank, while a new separation wall is being built in the Qalandia airport area and all buildings adjacent to the current wall are being removed, meaning that the occupation is working to establish a security depth to provide protection for settlers who will come to the area within a year at the latest. This refutes Israel's claims that it is carrying out a "municipal campaign" aimed at organizing the area. 

The General Secretariat added: Even if we assume for the sake of argument that the goal is to organize the area, is this area under the jurisdiction of the occupation municipality? And does it receive services from it? The answer is "no," as it is a neglected area located in the middle, meaning that the Palestinian Authority cannot provide services to it, while Israel has withdrawn its hand from it since the Oslo Agreement until today, as the area suffers from randomness, continuous water and electricity outages, and unequal provision of health services to all residents, as medical centers affiliated with "Clalit" and "Kupat Holim" provide treatment to patients holding Jerusalem IDs in particular because they hold Israeli insurance, while the majority of residents hold green IDs, i.e., issued by the Palestinian National Authority, where they are forced to seek treatment in private hospitals in Ramallah and Al-Bireh at their personal expense. 

The assessment stated: The Israeli pretext is a big deception, and the real intentions are annexation and expansion at the expense of Palestinians in the area, while there is another undeclared goal, which is to demolish UNRWA facilities in Qalandia, such as the Industrial Training Institute, and this may extend to include UNRWA clinics and schools in a serious attempt to cancel all symbolic manifestations of the refugee issue and the right of return, and this also applies to Shuafat refugee camp and the UNRWA institutions located there. "

The General Secretariat stressed that Israel, with American green light, is working to liquidate the Palestinian issue through the silent annexation of the West Bank after the destruction of the Gaza Strip and the establishment of an international peace council there, and the termination of the existence of UNRWA institutions that symbolize the existence of a historical political issue titled "right of return." In contrast, it is reactivating the civil administration and its affiliated institutions, which means reducing the role of the Palestinian Authority in the administrative and service fields, or rather undermining it, to become merely an "ATM" dependent on foreign aid. 

The General Secretariat warned that Israel is currently working to invent a "new Jerusalem" for the displaced from the capital Jerusalem, with Kafr Aqab as its center, while the Qalandia training institute will be the most prominent address for this invented city by completely seizing it and establishing a huge attractive tourist and commercial area on its ruins, knowing that its area is about 90 dunams and it was built more than 70 years ago, i.e., after the great Nakba in 1948. 

In light of this, the General Secretariat demanded the following in its assessment: 

First: To be aware of the inherent security danger behind the military operation carried out by the occupation authorities in the mentioned areas under the title of "municipal campaign."

Second: UNRWA must take concrete steps through the United Nations to stop the robbery of its headquarters with the aim of liquidating the symbolic address of the refugee issue.

Third: The residents of the area must thwart the opportunity for the Israeli occupation and not be drawn into the trap set for them, especially in Qalandia refugee camp, where there are hidden intentions to turn it into a disaster-stricken area similar to the northern camps. 

Fourth: The Palestinian National Authority and the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization must act urgently with the Security Council and United Nations organizations to take measures aimed at stopping the Israeli aggression and its malicious actions, which aim to impose a new political reality on the ground. 

Fifth: The international community must break its silence regarding this massacre to which Jerusalemites are exposed through comprehensive Israeli measures aimed at detaching them from their city and replacing them with extremist settlers who desecrate Al-Aqsa daily with protection provided by the Israeli Ministry of War. 

Sixth: We appeal to the brotherly Jordan, in its capacity as the custodian of the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, to act in this framework because its position and word have an echo that may affect the official Arab level and society. We also call on our brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to stand by the residents of Jerusalem's camps to provide them with protection from the danger of liquidation and engulfment by the Israeli occupation.