US 'dream team' is welcomed by settlers

Palestinian groups shocked by Trump's selection of outspoken supporters of far-right activists in the region

- Jason Burke

Rightwing settlers and nationalist extremist Zionists in Israel have described top officials in Donald Trump's new administration as a "dream team" who will offer a "unique and special opportunity" to expand Israel's hold on occupied territory and permanently end any prospect of a Palestinian state.

Palestinian groups and leftwing NGOs in Israel have been shocked by Trump's appointment of outspoken supporters of the projects of far-right Israeli activists and say the government of Benjamin Netanyahu has been emboldened by Trump's victory.

Since the US election, authorities have pushed ahead with demolishing Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, occupied in 1967.

Last week, Palestinian residents of al-Bustan in East Jerusalem were sifting through debris caused by the recent demolition of nine houses by municipal authorities after an Israeli court ruled their construction illegal.

Fakhri Abu Diab, a veteran activist who has led resistance to efforts to demolish Palestinians' homes in alBustan, said bulldozers had returned on the day of the US election to destroy the part of his house left standing by demolition teams earlier this year.

Abu Diab, 62, said 40 people, including children, had been left homeless and that 115 homes were now threatened. "Israel has wanted to demolish here for 20 years and is now seizing the opportunity. This is just a way to punish us and make us leave. I am here, where my parents and grandparents were, and will stay here," he said.