Israel Gives Notice that it is Seizing Land in Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Israel has given formal notice that it is seizing land near a Jewish pilgrimage site in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem to build a security wall, the mayor said Monday.

The seizure order says 3.5 acres are being taken for three years, but Mayor Hanna Nasser said he believes the area that will be cut off from the rest of Bethlehem by the security wall.

Israeli officials confirmed the order was sent to residents of the area but denied claims by Nasser that several homes would be destroyed to make way for the wall.

The area to be seized is near Rachel’s Tomb, the traditional burial site of the biblical matriarch on the northern edge of Bethlehem. Palestinian neighborhoods, a refugee camp and an Islamic cemetery abut the shrine and the area often has been a flashpoint for Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Palestinian officials said they would appeal to Israel’s Supreme Court.

Israel retained control over Rachel’s Tomb after troops withdrew from the rest of Bethlehem in December 1995, as part of interim peace accords.

Since the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in September 2000, Israeli troops have reoccupied most West Bank population centers, including Bethlehem, to prevent Palestinian militants from carrying out attacks on Israelis.

The seizure of the area near Rachel’s Tomb appears to be of a more permanent nature, however, because of the construction of the security wall.

In September, the Israeli security Cabinet decided that Israel would not relinquish control over Rachel’s Tomb. Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said at the time that the tomb would stay under Israeli control in an emerging plan to ring Jerusalem with walls, fences and roadblocks. Bethlehem is just south of Jerusalem.

Several suicide bombers from Bethlehem have blown up in Israel, killing dozens of people. In November, a bomber from Bethlehem killed 11 people on a bus.