Israel announces seizure of 800 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank. The land is in the Jordan Valley, a strip of fertile agricultural land along the border with Jordan.
The decision to seize part of this territory shows that Benjamin Netanyahu's government intends to continue building settlements, says Hamza Zbiedat. The declaration of plots as state land makes it easier for settlers to rent or purchase the plots in question, says Yonatan Mizrachi, co-director of the “settlement monitoring” branch of Peace Now.