In the midst of the war in Gaza, the Israeli state has approved the construction of new colonies in the occupied West Bank, further threatening any possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state.
As the conflict in Gaza drags on, Israeli authorities have approved plans to build nearly 5,300 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank (since 1967), the movement has denounced. Peace Nowan organization of reserve officers in the Israeli army (classified as left-wing) opposed to the establishment of settlements.
It would be the latest step in a campaign to accelerate the expansion of Jewish settlements. aimed at consolidating Israeli control over the territory and to prevent the establishment of a future Palestinian state.
According to AP, COGAT, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Palestinian Territories, which is in charge of the issue, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The only certainty is that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is dominated by settlers and their supporters. Nationalist Finance Minister Bazalel Smotrich, himself a settler, has been specifically tasked with settlement policy.
A damning report published last March
Wednesday, Peace Now stated thatIsrael had approved the largest land seizure in the West Bank in more than three decades. However, according to this Israeli organization, the dynamics of colonization threaten to further stir up tensions in the West Bank, which has seen a resurgence of violence since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7.
This expansion of the colonies is also regularly denounced by the UN. On March 8, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights published a damning report stressing that population transfers to an occupation zone “constitute a war crime that may give rise to individual criminal responsibility of the people involved.”
The authors of the report said that “*settler violence and settlement-related violations have reached shocking new levels and risk eliminating any practical possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state”***.**
According to Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the new Israeli settlements “go against international law.”
Resumption of talks for a ceasefire?
The announcement of the expansion of Israeli settlements comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to send negotiators to resume ceasefire negotiations in Gaza that have been under discussion for weeks.
The talks are about a gradual cessation of fighting tied to the release of dozens of hostages still held by Hamas in exchange for a lasting truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. But so far, neither side appears to have fully embraced it. Last month, Hamas suggested “amendments” to the proposal, some of which the US said were unworkable, without providing details. For his part, Prime Minister Netanyahu has expressed contradictory positions: he has confirmed that the initial proposal was an Israeli proposal, but he has also said he would accept only a partial deal, after which Israel would resume its military campaign to destroy Hamas.
Hamas militants are still believed to be holding around 80 hostages and the remains of 40 others. In its campaign in Gaza since the attack, Israel has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza, who do not specify how many were civilians or Hamas fighters.
Israel’s bombings, ground offensives and restrictions on Gaza have caused widespread destruction across the territory, displacing most of its population of 2.3 million, raising fears of widespread famine.
The talks also come amid an explosive situation on the Israeli-Lebanese border, where fighting has intensified. Lebanon’s Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, has claimed to have fired more than 200 rockets and explosive drones on northern Israel to avenge the killing of a dignitary in a recent Israeli airstrike.
