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Blue Line Team used to expand West Bank settlements
The National Office for Land Defense and Settlement Resistance reports that Israeli authorities have increased the use of the Blue Line Team to seize Palestinian lands in the northern and central West Bank. The team, which includes surveyors, cartographers, and legal experts, is being used to designate areas as state land to facilitate settlement expansion.
According to the report, Minister Bezalel Smotrich is utilizing this mechanism to formalize pastoral and agricultural outposts. The team employs modern geographic information systems (GIS) to redraw boundaries, accelerating processes that previously took years into mere weeks or months. This shift follows the transfer of land survey oversight to Smotrich and his deputy, Helen Roth.
In a recent action, authorities reportedly seized 7,498 dunams of land in the town of Qabatiya, Jenin governorate, under an urgent military order cited for security reasons.
Entities
Bezalel Smotrich · Blue Line Team · National Office for Land Defense and Settlement Resistance · Qabatiya · West Bank
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [● 3 SOURCES] The Blue Line Team was officially established in 1999. www.sadanews.ps · palsawa.com · pnn.ps
- [● 3 SOURCES] Minister Bezalel Smotrich is leading a settlement campaign using the Blue Line Team. www.sadanews.ps · palsawa.com · pnn.ps
- [● 3 SOURCES] The Blue Line Team is being used to control large areas of Palestinian land in the northern and central West Bank. www.sadanews.ps · palsawa.com · pnn.ps
- [● 3 SOURCES] The Blue Line Team uses modern technology and GIS to mark lands in blue on official maps. www.sadanews.ps · palsawa.com · pnn.ps
- [● 3 SOURCES] 7,498 dunams of land in Qabatiya, Jenin governorate, were seized via an urgent military order. www.sadanews.ps · palsawa.com · pnn.ps