The number of settlers in the West Bank has increased by 3% since the beginning of the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza (Al Jazeera)
The official Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that Israel intends to approve, within the next two weeks, the establishment of more than 3,000,300,000 settlement units in the occupied West Bank.
If the decision is approved, this will be the largest settlement project in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7th.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority said on Friday that the relevant committee will meet within two weeks to approve the establishment of 2,350 housing units in the Maale Adumim settlement, east of East Jerusalem, about 300 in the Kedar settlement, southeast of East Jerusalem, and 700 units in the Efrat settlement, south of occupied Jerusalem.
The commission claimed that the decision comes in response to the shooting operation carried out by Palestinian resistance fighters yesterday near the Maale Adumim settlement, which resulted in the death of an Israeli soldier and the wounding of at least 8 others with varying injuries.
According to the Commission, the Israeli authorities announced the closure of part of the road leading to Al-Za’im checkpoint, east of East Jerusalem, to Palestinian movement for at least two weeks.
The current right-wing Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, promotes and supports settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories. Recent years have witnessed a significant increase in settlement activities in the West Bank, according to the Israeli “Peace Now” organization, which monitors settlement in the Palestinian territories.
According to estimates by the left-wing organization, more than 700,000 settlers reside in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
A report last week revealed that the number of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank rose by approximately 3% last year, 2023, and expected “accelerated growth” in the number of settlers in the West Bank in the coming years.
The United Nations and the international community consider Israeli settlement in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 an illegal activity. The United Nations and human rights organizations have often called on Israel to stop settlement operations and warned that it undermines the chances of peace in accordance with the principle of the two-state solution, but these calls and warnings were rejected and ignored by Israel. .
Source: Al Jazeera + Anatolia