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Palestinian Authority to issue building permits for Area C

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The Palestinian Authority (PA) said it will start issuing building permits for Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank.

Ahmed Ghoneim, the PA’s deputy minister of local government, who is responsible for planning and building regulations, said yesterday: “From a political point of view, the terms ‘A,’ ‘B’ and ‘C’ no longer exist to us, from a professional and technical perspective, we will apply planning policies in Palestine at three levels: national, regional and local.”

According to the Oslo Accords, the West Bank is divided into three areas: A, B and C. Area A is exclusively administered by the Palestinian Authority; Area B is administered by both the Palestinian Authority and Israel; and Area C is administered by Israel. Area C constitutes around 60 per cent of the West Bank but contains Israeli settlements. Its long term status is meant to be determined in final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinian Authority announcement comes after PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority: “Will deal with all places [in the West Bank] as if they are part of Area A”.

Tensions between the PA and Israel have escalated in the last two weeks after Israel demolished several Palestinian buildings in East Jerusalem that it said were built illegally without planning permission and constituted a security threat as they were built close to the West Bank security barrier. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas announced in response that he was suspending all agreements previously signed with Israel. Ghoneim said the PA has begun implementing the decision to cut ties with Israel and has formed a committee to implement it.

More details emerged yesterday about a senior Hamas delegation’s visit to Iran last month. According to Israel’s Channel 12 News, the Hamas delegation met with Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Hamas delegates reportedly asked Iran to increase its financial support for Hamas to $30 million a month and help them reconcile with the Syrian regime where it previously had a headquarters in Damascus. Iranian officials asked Hamas in return to provide it with intelligence about the location of missile bases in Israel.