The Israeli occupation expands its settlement activity in light of its ongoing war on the Gaza Strip (Reuters)
The European Union condemned on Sunday the Israeli occupation authorities’ confiscation of 8,000 dunums of land in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank.
The Federation explained - in a statement - its “strongly” condemnation of the announcement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to confiscate this area of land and consider it Israeli land.
This is considered the largest confiscation since the signing of the Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel in 1994, according to the same statement.
Last Friday, Israel announced the confiscation of 8,000 dunams in the Jordan Valley, to establish hundreds of settlement units, and the Palestinian presidency denounced this decision, which coincided with the visit of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Israel.
Smotrich reported the confiscation of an additional 8,000 dunums of land in the Jordan Valley, in a step he described as “large and important for settlement,” in the area located on the eastern slopes of the West Bank.
The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned this and affirmed its absolute rejection and denunciation of the occupation government’s continued violation of all rules of international law, relevant Security Council resolutions, and approved international references.
The #Ministry_of_Foreign_and_Expat_Affairs condemned the decision of an extremist minister in the Israeli government to confiscate 8,000 dunums from the Jordan Valley area in the #Occupied_Palestinian_Territories. pic.twitter.com/n6gfhOb63K
- Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs (@ForeignMinistry) March 22, 2024
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reported that the confiscated lands will be used to build hundreds of housing units, in addition to an area designated for industry, trade and employment. Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations have indicated a noticeable increase in settlement activity in the West Bank since the formation of Benjamin Netanyahu's government in late 2022.
According to estimates, more than 720,000 Israelis reside in illegal settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to Anadolu Agency.
This Israeli settlement expansion comes as the occupation army continues its war on the Gaza Strip since the seventh of last October, leaving tens of thousands of martyrs, wounded and missing amid a humanitarian situation described as catastrophic and a famine looming over the Strip.
Source: Al Jazeera + Anatolia