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The Israeli military government over the Occupied Territories is called, the "Civil Administration," even though it is headed by a colonel under the strict authority of the Ministry of Defense, and is bound by the orders of the general commanding the "Central Front."
One of the sets of controls derives from Israel's policy of "creating facts on the ground" – virtually all of them in violation of international law (including the Fourth Geneva Convention signed by Israel itself). These include:
* Massive expropriation of Palestinian land;
* Construction of more than 200 settlements and the transfer of 400,000 Israelis across the 1967 boundaries: about 200,000 in the West Bank, 200,000 in East Jerusalem and 6000 in Gaza (the latter occupying a fourth of the land, including most of the coastline);
* Carving the Occupied Territories into areas — Areas "A," "B," "C," "D" in the West Bank; "H-1" and "H-2" in Hebron; Yellow, Green, Blue and White Areas in Gaza; nature reserves; closed military areas, security zones, and "open green spaces" of restricted housing over more than half of Palestinian East Jerusalem – which confine the Palestinians to some 190 islands all surrounded by Israeli settlements, roads and checkpoints;
The control mechanisms of the Matrix are varied and diverse. There are, first of all, active measures to ensure acquiescence:
* Outright military actions, including attacks on civilian population centers and the Palestinian infrastructure;
* Extensive use of collaborators and undercover "mustarabi" army units; administrative detention, arrest, trial and torture; and
* "Orders" issued by the Military Commanders of the West Bank and Gaza (some 2000 in number since 1967), supplemented by Civil Administration policies, that replace local civil law with policies and procedures that cynically further Israeli political control.
A massive system of highways and by-pass roads designed to link settlements, to create barriers between Palestinian areas and to incorporate the West Bank into Israel proper;
* Imposing severe controls on Palestinian movement;
* Construction of seven industrial parks that give new life to isolated settlements, exploit cheap Palestinian labor while denying it access to Israel, rob Palestinian cities of their economic vitality, control key locations and ensure Israel's ability to continue dumping its industrial wastes onto the West Bank;
* Maintaining control over aquifers and other vital natural resources;