Israel Advances Plans for Over 4,500 New West Bank Settlement Homes
The Israeli government is set to endorse the construction of 4,570 new settlement homes in the West Bank, a move that could escalate tensions in the region, according to a report by state-owned Kan TV. These construction plans, in various stages of review and approval, are anticipated to receive the go-ahead next week from the Higher Planning Council of the Civil Administration, the Israeli authority responsible for approving construction in the West Bank.
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Confirming these expectations, an anonymous senior government official revealed that the US government was informed last week about the upcoming action by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office. Adding to this, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right pro-settler leader, foreshadowed “great news for the settlements” in a recent party meeting.
Israel has held control over the West Bank, previously occupied by Jordan, since the 1967 Middle East war. The Oslo Accords established autonomous Palestinian self-rule in parts of the West Bank, though around 60% of the territory remains under direct Israeli civil and military control. The Palestine Liberation Organization claims the disputed territory, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, a coastal enclave now ruled by Hamas, for the Palestinian state that it seeks to establish. The expansion of Israeli settlements has remained a sticking point in Israeli-Palestinian relations, contributing to the halt of direct peace talks between the two sides.