Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that the Israeli government is working to promote the construction of 22 communications towers and transmitters in the occupied West Bank, at an estimated cost of 50 million shekels, as part of a broader move to strengthen its grip on areas of the West Bank.
The newspaper revealed that the project, funded by an extra-budget fund led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, includes building masts in different areas, some on Israeli land and others on private Palestinian land, with the possibility of using confiscation orders.
Towers have already been erected in locations such as the Maalot Halhul settlement, a hill near the Palestinian village of Halhul, north of Hebron, and at the Givat Assaf junction in the center of the occupied West Bank.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Communications Minister Shlomo Karei later intends to issue about 50 additional confiscation orders for the purpose of erecting towers and transmitters on common lands throughout the West Bank, whose legal status has not yet been settled.
The newspaper believes that this step aims to control the largest possible amount of land and powers in the West Bank, and to create “facts on the ground” before US President-elect Donald Trump enters the White House.
Minister Karei commented on the plan, saying: “Establishing cellular communications towers throughout the West Bank is not just a matter of quality of life and technological connectivity, but rather an essential step to strengthen the Israeli presence and ensure significant Israeli control and sovereignty over the land, the land of our ancestors.”
He added: “After issuing the first tender this week, we have already started working on the second tender in which we will also use the ‘land grab’ tool to accomplish the mission. Communications towers will rise in every location across our country and will announce to the people and the world that it is our country.”