Watchdog has documented Canadian military personnel patrolling in uniform in Judea and Samaria.
By Aryeh Savir, TPS
In recent weeks, a delegation of senior Canadian military personnel has been documented patrolling in uniform in Area C in Judea and Samaria, including at an illegally-built structure, the Regavim organization reported Thursday.
Area C is under full Israeli security and civilian control, as per the 1993 Oslo Accords.
Last week, a high-ranking Canadian army officer, together with a delegation of Canadian military personnel, visited an illegal structure built on state land belonging to Maon in the southern Hebron Mountains, where he met with Arabs from the area.
The delegation was also hosted by the IDF’s Central Command General Yehuda Fuchs, hence their identity is known and their presence on the ground is known to IDF officials.
The illegal building that the Canadian delegation visited was erected during the night within a few hours, in Area C on land designated for agriculture and belongs to the nearby Israeli community of Maon.
The Israeli residents of the community appealed to the IDF and the Civil Administration to stop the work and demolish the building. According to them, the Civil Administration has pledged to enforce the law but so far has not done so.
Shortly after the referral to the Civil Administration, the visit of the Canadian delegation, which included two uniformed military personnel, was documented.
The delegation was also documented during a visit to the village of Zurif near the community of Carmi Tzur in Gush Etzion, and this week they were discovered again in a meeting with Arabs near the village of Kisan in eastern Gush Etzion, also in Area C.
“Imagine that Chief of Staff [Aviv] Kochavi would walk around the Canadian border wearing a uniform with ranks on his shoulder and reinforcing criminal border smugglers,” said Meir Deutsch, Regavim’s Director-General.
“Is Canada planning to start a war with Israel? A senior military figure from a foreign country who encourages criminals who have invaded the country’s lands under the auspices of the PA is utterly insane and a blatant and rude move against the State of Israel,” he stated.
Deutsch added that “as long as the State of Israel sees itself as a guest in Judea and Samaria and does not conduct itself as the landlord, the rest of the world will also see the State of Israel as a guest and not as the landlord.”
Seven new illegal buildings every day
The Regavim Movement, which combats illegal takeover of state lands, recently revealed new mapping data on the frightening scope of the PA’s takeover of Israeli land in Area C, including the extent of illegal Arab construction in the area.
Between the years 2019-2021, the Arabs built 5,097 new illegal structures, in areas under the full control of the State of Israel. This means that every day, about seven new illegal buildings are added to the area. The total number of illegal Arab buildings in Area C is 72,274.
At the same time, a PA-guided agricultural takeover of 7,125 dunams of land under Israeli control was recorded during this two-year period, reaching a total of 93,071 dunams, meaning that Israel is rapidly losing lands in Area C to illegal construction projects executed by the PA.
In 2009, then-prime minister of the PA Salaam Fayyad laid out the Plan for the Creation of the State of Palestine, a methodical program for seizing control of territory in Area C, under full Israeli control as prescribed by the Oslo Accords, to form a broad and viable basis for a Palestinian state, specifically in the areas under Israeli control.
Fayyad’s plan essentially bypasses all negotiations or compromises with Israel and creates facts on the ground.