Israel’s authorization of more settlements in the occupied West Bank has sparked criticism, a barrier to the Palestinian state

Israel says 22 Jews will be established on Thursday Settlement In occupied West Bankincluding the legalization of outposts established without government authorization. Nearby Jordan and the UK have slammed the move, with top British officials calling it a “deliberate obstacle” to the Palestinian nation.

Israel occupied the West Bank Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, in the 1967 Middle East War and Palestinians, hoped that all three territories would be for their future state. Most international community sees settlements as illegal and a barrier to solving decades of conflict.

Defense Minister Katz said that the settlement “strengthens our holdings of Judea and Samaritan” using biblical terms. “Pinning our historic rights to Israeli land constitutes a frustrating response to Palestinian terrorism,” he said.

He added that the construction of settlements was also “a strategic move to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state that endangers Israel.”

Israeli anti-propaganda group Peace now says the news is the most extensive move since the 1993 Oslo Accords launched the now-destroyed peace process. It said settlements deep inside the territory would “realize the West Bank and be further placed in occupation.”

Israel has built more than 100 settlements throughout its territory, with approximately 500,000 settlers. The settlement ranges from hilltop outposts to fully developed communities with apartment buildings, shopping malls, factories and parks.

The West Bank has 3 million Palestinians who live under Israeli military rule and the Palestinian authorities manage the population center. The settlers have Israeli citizenship.

Peace now says the plan calls for authorization of 12 existing outposts, development of nine new settlements and reclassification of communities in existing settlements into separate settlements.

“The government has made it clear again that it is unrestricted again – it prefers to deepen the occupation rather than the fact that the pursuit of peace annexation,” the group said.

Israel has accelerated settlement construction in recent years, which ignited the war in Gaza before Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. Settlement restrictions Palestinian For smaller areas in the West Bank, the prospect of establishing a viable independent country is even more distant.

A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the move a “dangerous escalation” and accused Israel of relocating the region to a “cycle of violence and instability.”

“The Israeli government has been working to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh told Reuters.

In a statement, Hamas (both designated by the United States and Israel as a group that controls terrorists in Gaza) accused Israel of “accelerating the accelerated indecisive Palestinian land as part of a clear annexation project.”

“This poses a challenge to international will and is a serious violation of international law and resolutions of the United Nations,” Palestinian militant group said.

Western ally Jordan also condemned the move as illegal and said “the prospect of peace is undermined by consolidating occupation.”

“This unilateral action further erodes the viability of the two-state solution by hindering the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state,” the Jordanian Foreign Ministry warned.

British Central and Eastern Minister Hamish Falconer criticized the decision as a “deliberate Palestinian national barrier” saying the settlement “has endangered the two-state solution and did not protect Israel.”

During his first term, President Trump’s administration violated U.S. foreign policy by supporting Israel’s claims of territory seized by force and taking measures to legalize settlements. Former President Joe Biden, like most of his predecessors, opposed settlements, but put little pressure on Israel to curb its growth.

The top UN court ruled last year that Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory was illegal and demanded that it end and demanded that settlement construction be stopped immediately.

Israel condemned the unbinding opinion of the 15-president panel of judges in the International Court of Justice, saying the territories are part of the Jewish historic homeland.

Israel withdrew its settlement from the Gaza Strip in 2005, but the leading figures in the current government called for the reestablishment of their settlements and asked them to relocate many of the Palestinian population in the territory through the described voluntary immigration.

Palestinians view such plans as a blueprint because they were forcibly expelled from their hometowns, which experts say may violate international law.

Yaakov Garb, a professor of environmental studies at Ben Gurion University, said Israel now controls more than 70% of Gaza, and he has studied decades of studying Israel-Palestine land use patterns.

The area includes along the border with Israel and the southern city of Rafa, which is now mostly uninhabited, and other large areas where Israel has ordered the evacuation of Israel.

The war began with Hamas’s October 7 attack, where terrorists attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and kidnapped 251 people. Hamas still holds 58 hostages, about one-third of them are believed to be alive, and most of the rest are released as a ceasefire agreement. Israeli troops have rescued eight people and recovered dozens of bodies.

According to Gaza Hamas-Ruining Health Ministry, Israel’s retaliatory offensive killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, and the ministry did not distinguish between civilians and combatants’ casualties.

AFP

Contributed to this report.