Ramallah -

 In less than 24 hours, the Israeli occupation took several unprecedented decisions to strengthen settlements in the West Bank, disregarding the truce efforts made by regional and international parties.

The first step was represented by the approval of a government ministerial committee for legislative affairs, yesterday, Sunday, of a bill to cancel the “disengagement” law of 2005, according to which the withdrawal from settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip took place, which means the return of a number of West Bank settlements.

The Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs is one of several committees with different powers that follow the Israeli cabinet, and its task is to review laws before submitting them to the Knesset.

In order for any law to become effective after its approval by the Ministerial Committee, it is transferred to the Knesset for approval with preliminary reading, which is expected the day after tomorrow, then the first, second and third.

As for the second step, it is the approval of the cabinet yesterday evening, the legalization of 9 outposts, meaning that they will obtain legal recognition and turn them into recognized settlements and provide them with electricity, water and other services, and strengthen the infrastructure and further construction in the existing settlements.

By "outposts" means sites established by settlers on lands that are under private Palestinian ownership or confiscated by the occupation army, but without the approval of the Israeli government for their establishment.

Yesterday, the Israeli cabinet legalized 9 settlement outposts (Al-Jazeera Net)

disengagement law

The disengagement dates back to the late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan, which included a withdrawal from settlements in the northern West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

Sharon's plan, which he handed over in 2004 to former US President George Bush as part of efforts to revive the peace process, stipulated the evacuation of 4 settlements and military bases from the Gaza Strip, and 4 settlements in the governorates of Nablus and Jenin in the northern West Bank: Ghneim, Kadeem, Homesh, Sanur, in exchange for a letter. American guarantees that recognize the major settlement blocs in the West Bank.

Sharon wanted through the "disengagement plan" to absolve Israel of responsibility for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in the first place.

The current government's intention to cancel the disengagement means giving the green light to settlers to return to 5 vacated outposts in the Jenin area in the northern West Bank, and further expansion in thousands of dunums of Palestinian land (a dunum equals one thousand square meters), according to Abdullah Abu Rahma, head of the Popular Action Department of the Resistance Committee. Wall and government settlement.

Abu Rahma added to Al-Jazeera Net that the draft law, to return the settlers to the northern West Bank, was pushed by extreme right-wing parties, explaining that the settlers had already returned since their evacuation to some of these settlements, especially the Homesh settlement on the lands of the cities of Nablus and Jenin.

He stressed that simply putting forward the draft law means giving the green light to the settlers who were evacuated in 2005 and others to return, settle and further expand at the expense of the Palestinian territories.

The official of the Popular Action Department of the Governmental Settlement and Wall Resistance Commission pointed out that settlers have been going on marches and activities for years, and that buses have been running to Homesh settlement and residence in it even when it is vacated.

The occupation approves a bill to cancel the disengagement in the northern West Bank https://t.co/GFQQZlBbVQ

Quds Press |

Quds Press (@QudsPress) February 12, 2023

Legalization of outposts

Regarding the Cabinet's decision to legalize settlement outposts, Abu Rahma said that the settlers are spread in about 188 outposts and about 50 pastoral outposts (cattle herders) in addition to 176 settlements, which means domination over large areas and with direct government support over large areas of the occupied West Bank.

Abu Rahma added that the majority of settlement outposts were built in the last decade, "and have become a hotbed for price-paying settlement gangs, which are the backbone, hand, and striking forces of religious Zionism, and today they are represented in the Knesset and the government and practice their violence with political cover."

The Palestinian official says that the residents of these outposts are armed, and they have the support of the Minister of Internal Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, who seeks to grant licenses for their weapons, "in a clear legalization of shooting and killing Palestinians."

He added that all Israeli governments provide support, protection, infrastructure, communications and transportation to settlements and outposts, and their recent decision in this regard means "bringing more settlers and more construction and settlement expansion."

Abu Rahma indicated that there are 30,000 settlers in the outposts, out of about 726,000 settlers in the West Bank, including Jerusalem. payments over the next period.

Israel decides to legalize 9 random settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank pic.twitter.com/ATbS8H3RY1

- Al-Jazeera Channel (@AJArabic) February 13, 2023

An unprecedented step

For his part, the researcher on Israeli affairs, Antoine Shalhat, says that the recent Israeli decisions come in the context of a continuous escalation, especially with regard to settlements.

Shalhat added, in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net, that the issue of legalizing settlement outposts, which are even in their Israeli definition random and illegal, "is an unprecedented decision, which brings us to a new crossroads with regard to these outposts."

Regarding the trends of the situation politically and on the ground after the Israeli decision, Shalhat said that there is no answer for the current period, because the matter "will develop according to the amount of pressure that Israel will be exposed to," expecting pressure on the government from external parties, especially the United States, "which makes the Israeli government stop at a certain limit and not implement its full decisions.

He also said that the strong party in the current Israeli government is "the national and religious extreme right, which demands a very strict iron fist against the Palestinian people, but despite that, the government's decisions do not respond to the matter to the satisfaction of this right."

Shalhat points out that Israel exploits the local conditions, specifically the relationship with the Palestinian Authority, regionally and internationally, to implement its plans.

In a statement, a copy of which was received by Al-Jazeera Net, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry considered the Israeli decisions "a dangerous escalation of aggression and war, a violation of all known red lines in managing the conflict, a disregard for the efforts made to stop the escalation, and a systematic undermining of the opportunity to revive the peace process," which has been stalled since 2014.

UN Security Council Resolution No. 2334 of 2016 stipulates the illegality of settlement activity, and calls for stopping it in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.