Jerusalem
CNN
–
Israel this week approved a massive expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank in a move described as a continuation of the territory’s de facto annexation.
Peace, an Israeli non-governmental organisation tracking the settlement, said it was the largest expansion of the settlement since the signing of the Oslo agreement more than 30 years ago.
According to a joint statement by Israeli Defense Minister Katz and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Israel will establish 22 new settlements, including the depths of the Jordan River and previously withdrawn areas, as part of a decision by the new security cabinet.
“All new communities are established with a long-term strategic vision aimed at strengthening Israel’s territorial control, hindering the establishment of a Palestinian state, and ensuring development preparations for reconciliation in the coming decades,” the statement said.
Nabil Abu Rudain, a spokesman for the president of the Palestinian authorities, called the announcement “a dangerous escalation and a challenge to international legitimacy and international law.”
Abu Rudain said in a statement issued a week ago after reports of settlement approval occurred.
Peace now denounced the government for making such a decision in the midst of war.
“The government has made it clear that it prefers to deepen occupation and advance de facto annexation in pursuit of peace — without restraint,” the organization said. “The Israeli government is no longer pretending. Annexation of occupied territory and expansion of settlements are its central goals.”
The occupied Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the occupied Golan Heights settlements are deemed illegal under international law.
The Oslo Agreement, signed in 1993 between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), was designed to pave the way for the establishment of a Palestinian state and the realization of a solution for the two states.
For months, Israeli forces have carried out massive operations on the West Bank, deploying tanks on their territory for the first time in decades, stoking away tens of thousands of Palestinians. In February, Katz ordered the troops to “prepare for a long-term existence” as the troops evacuated the Palestinian refugee camps. Within the past few weeks, Israeli forces have made multiple attacks and arrests throughout the West Bank.
Peace said now that 12 new settlements will become legalized for illegal forward post bases. The previous post base is illegally established by Jewish settlers without government approval, as it intends to promote formal recognition and legalization. According to peace, the other nine other settlements will be completely new, while the final settlement will be completely new.
The two new plan settlements were evacuated during their 2005 withdrawal from parts of the West Bank, banning Israelis from establishing private existence in these areas. The law was overturned by the current right-wing Israeli government.
Smotrich sparkled about the new settlement and revealed that his goal was annexation. “Next step – sovereignty! We took away our ancestors’ inheritance, not our foreign land,” he said in a statement.
Earlier this month, the Security Cabinet approved the land registration process for Region C, West Bank, under Israeli civil and security controls. Peace is now calling the move “a huge theft of Palestine land.”
