Israel has announced plans to establish 22 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
These plans include both the development of new settlements and the legalization of existing outposts built without government permits.
Meanwhile, Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have killed 13 people overnight, health officials said.
The West Bank was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, and Palestinians insist it will be a key part of their future state.
Most countries in the world consider these settlements illegal and an obstacle to a peaceful resolution of the protracted conflict.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz commented that the settlement decision “strengthens our authority over Judea and Samaria,” using the biblical term for the West Bank, and “reinforces our historic right to the Land of Israel, representing a decisive response to Palestinian terrorism.”
He added that it was also “a strategic move that prevents the creation of a Palestinian state that could threaten Israel.”
Israel has already built more than 100 settlements in these territories, home to some 500,000 settlers. The settlements range from small outposts on hilltops to fully developed communities with apartment buildings, shopping malls, factories and public parks.
Three million Palestinians live in the West Bank, under Israeli military control while the Western-backed Palestinian Authority administers the settlements. The settlers hold Israeli citizenship.
In recent years, Israel has accelerated settlement construction – long before the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, sparked the Gaza war – confining Palestinians to ever smaller areas of the West Bank and making the prospect of a viable independent state even more remote.
During its first term, Donald Trump’s administration upended decades of American foreign policy by backing Israel’s claims to captured territory and taking steps to legitimize settlements. Former President Joe Biden, like most of his predecessors, opposed the settlements but did not put significant pressure on Israel to curb their expansion.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
