Reports have surfaced that the Civil Administration, under orders from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, is preparing to deliver 10,000 dunams (2,471 acres) of land from Area C in Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority (PA). Area C, which comprises approximately 63% of Judea and Samaria, is under full Israeli civil and security control. Should Israel withdraw the 10,000 dunams of land from Area C to Areas A or B, the land would come under Palestinian civil control. According to the reports, the plans have not been discussed within the political echelon and have not received government approval. In response, Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan has angrily appealed to the Prime Minister, demanding he immediately halt all plans to transfer Israeli land to the PA. "We demand an immediate halt to all plans to transfer homeland territory," Dagan stressed. "Especially, when such measures have not been approved by the government as is customary in a democracy." "These things were done in the dark, underground, like thieves in the night," he charged. "Maps were prepared and all without the government's stamp of approval." Joining Dagan in protest were Welfare Minister Haim Katz and Science Minister Ofir Akunis, who announced they would fight the move at the Cabinet meeting on Sunday morning. "I am completely against the plans that were published," Katz asserted. "There is no logic in giving the Palestinian Authority further civilian control in Judea and Samaria, especially when they are the sources of terror. At the Cabinet meeting, I will demand the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) team be cancelled, and the maps shelved if they exist." Akunis, for his part, said, "After the delusional idea to provide weapons to the Palestinians, we hear COGAT initiating the transfer of tens of thousands of dunams to the Palestinian Authority. This should not happen."
