Settlements received on average twice as much public support for housing projects as communities in Israel

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, January 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Israel, which released an eight-year-old Palestinian child who planned to “attack” an illegal settlement last year, has invested almost 500 million dollars in Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2001, according to the anti-settlement group Peace Now.

A report written by Dror Tsaban, former assistant director of the finance ministry, said around 370 million dollars were granted in the form of supplements and tax breaks to settlements.

The illegal settlements have been a main focus of the 28-month Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.

The report said that per capita investment in the settlements, considered illegal by the international community, reached 510 dollars, while the government spent just 300 dollars per head on investment in Israel, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

The settlements received on average twice as much public support for housing projects as communities in Israel, Peace Now said.

Investment in transport in the West Bank and Gaza Strip represented 10 of the ministry’s spending while Israel received just 2.93 percent, the report added.

The settlements also received credits to develop industrial zones, water resources and tourist infrastructure.

According to the report, the allocations do not include defense ministry spending to protect the communities from attacks by Palestinians.

The Council for Settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip denounced the report as “a manipulation of the data for political ends.”

The council denied that the settlers enjoyed more benefits than other Israelis, saying that on the contrary they were penalized by “tax discrimination in relation to poorer areas” of Israel.

Around 200,000 settlers live in the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip, which were occupied by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Israeli Army Releases Palestinian Boy

Meanwhile, the Israeli army on Wednesday, January 22, released an eight-year-old Palestinian boy, the younger of two brothers who were shot and injured by troops as they tried to sneak into a Jewish settlement in the Gaza Strip armed with knives.

The occupation army said the child, Ahmad El-Khandjuri, had been handed over to the Palestinians after having spent time in an Israeli military hospital for a hip fracture sustained on January 11, when he and his 13-year-old brother sneaked into the Netzarim settlement.

The two boys were caught by troops after allegedly trying to attack a local child, and then sneaking into the house of a rabbi, who shot at them but missed.

An army spokesman said the elder brother, Mohammed El-Khandjuri, was still being questioned. He was reported to have suffered gunshot wounds during the attempted attack.

Palestinian medical sources confirmed that Ahmad had been admitted to a hospital in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Separately, Palestinian medical sources said a Palestinian was injured by Israeli gunfire late Wednesday near the Deir al-Ballah refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip.