“This annexation government is dangerously undermining the security and future of Israelis and Palestinians, and the cost of this recklessness will be paid for by future generations. We must bring down this government before it is too late,” said the Israeli anti-occupation organization Peace Now, on the occasion of Israel’s approval of the legalization of three Jewish settlement outposts and the expansion of other Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. West Bank.
The main Planning Council, responsible for the Israeli construction sector in the West Bank, approved yesterday and today the expansion of settlements in the central West Bank and the legalization of three outposts: Mahane Gadi, Givat Hanan and Kedem Arava, which are considered “neighborhoods” of existing settlements.
Israel: Largest confiscation of Palestinian lands in occupied West Bank
All Israeli settlements are illegal according to the UN and international law.
Outposts, so-called “arbitrary” settlements, are built without even obtaining permission from Israel, which has owned the West Bank since 1967.
5,295 housing units
According to the organization “Peace Now”, the Planning Council gave the green light to 5,295 housing units: 3,080 for submission of files and 2,215 for validation.
“Our government continues to change the rules of the game in the occupied West Bank, leading to irreversible damage,” commented the organization that closely monitors Israeli settlement activity.
Dozens of outposts have been established in the occupied West Bank, in addition to Jewish settlements built with the permission of the Israeli authorities. Their size varies, ranging from a few tents to prefabricated houses connected to the water and electricity network.
Almost 490,000 Israelis have settled in the West Bank within these settlements, among three million Palestinians.
On Wednesday, settlers protested against hundreds of Israeli police and soldiers who dismantled an outpost north of Jerusalem, an Israeli official said.
Source: AMPE