Occupied West Bank: record number of illegal settlements in 2023, points out the NGO Peace Now
The anti-colonization NGO Peace Now reports that settlers in the occupied West Bank established a record number of illegal “outposts” there in 2023. The organization links this trend to the arrival of far-right figures in the Israeli government.
Itamar, an Israeli colony in the northern West Bank, was created in 1984 (illustrative photo). © CC BY-SA 2.5 / Wikimedias commons
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According to
Peace Now
, 26 “outposts”, wild settlements not recognized by the Israeli government, were established across the occupied West Bank last year, including around ten since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7. In comparison, in 2022, five wild colonies had emerged from the ground, a year when the Israeli government was still led by a heterogeneous coalition (center, right, left, Arab).
“
Under the Netanyahu government, we have seen unprecedented support for settlements
,” says the NGO, specifying that 2023 was a record year for illegal settlements since
the “emergence
” of this phenomenon under a previous government of Mr. .Netanyahu, in 1996. The Israeli Prime Minister returned to power at the end of December 2022 at the head of a team including ministers from the far-right.
Currently, in the West Bank, around 490,000 Israelis live in settlements deemed illegal by international law, often established by a handful of families without the approval of the authorities. After their creation, they are sometimes legalized by the State. In 2023, around fifteen illegal colonies will begin a process of legalization, notes Peace Now in its annual report on the state of colonization in the West Bank.
Around 2.9 million Palestinians live in this part of the Territories. The last record for the number of new illegal settlements in the West Bank was 23; it dates back to 2002, during the
Second Intifada
, according to the Israeli NGO. Note that France announced on Tuesday “
sanctions
” against 28 “
extremist Israeli settlers
” guilty of “
violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank
”.
(With
AFP
)
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