Israel Allocates 113 Million Shekels for West Bank Sites as 450 Acres Face Expropriation
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 8
Israel Allocates 113 Million Shekels for West Bank Sites as 450 Acres Face Expropriation
1 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 8
Summary
113 million shekels in new Israeli funding will expand control over archaeological sites in the occupied West Bank, including Sebastia, where restoration and excavations have already begun.
About 450 acres around Sebastia are being taken for a planned 'Samaria' national park, with Palestinian landowners saying they received seizure notices and risk losing farmland, shops and access to the site.
Unesco added Sebastia to its World Heritage List and Danger List on July 25, warning that the planned expropriation and park could divide the property.
Israeli activists and Palestinian officials say archaeology is being used to deepen Israeli control without local consultation, while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar says Unesco is helping erase Jewish historical ties.
The push extends beyond Sebastia: Israel has also begun expropriating about 80 acres at Herodium, while a broader bill to shift West Bank archaeology powers to Israel's heritage ministry is on hold before elections.