Israel cancels railway project linking northern region with West Bank

Jerusalem, Sep 3 (IANS) Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev on Tuesday announced in a statement the cancellation of the planned railway linking northern Israel with the northern West Bank.

The project, which was initiated about a decade ago, was designed to connect the Israeli city of Afula in the Jezreel Valley with the Palestinian city of Jenin, located about 20 km south of Afula.

The area where the planned track and cargo terminal were to be situated was purchased by the Turkish government as part of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's vision to link the Palestinian Authority to Turkey through the Israeli port city of Haifa and the Mediterranean Sea.

Regev explained the decision by the change in the geopolitical-security situation, adding, "We will not give prizes for terrorism. The increase in violence in the West Bank, especially in Jenin, and the anti-Semitic line that Erdogan is promoting led me to the conclusion that it is necessary to immediately halt the planned train," Xinhua news agency reported.

The Afula-Jenin railway is also part of the "Peace Railways" plan promoted by the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Jordan, which includes a future railway connecting UAE ports to Haifa Bay through Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

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