Israel approves three settlement outposts, thousands of homes in West Bank
Al Jazeera
Watchdog Peace Now says Israeli gov’t approves settlement outposts of Givat Hanan, Kedem Arava, and Machane Gadi.
Israel’s government has approved 5,295 new housing units in a host of illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank, as well as recognising three new settlement outposts in the Palestinian territory, according to a watchdog group.
Israeli NGO Peace Now reported the move on Thursday, a day after the group said Israel’s government has approved the largest West Bank land seizure in more than three decades.
The construction of Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory is illegal under international law and settlement expansion is seen as a major hindrance to the viability of a future Palestinian state.
The new approvals are all but assured to further stoke tensions at a time when Palestinians across the occupied West Bank are facing increased raids by Israeli forces and settlers amid Israel’s continuing war in Gaza.
“Our government continues to change the rules of the game in the occupied West Bank, leading to irreversible harm,” Peace Now said in a statement on Thursday, in which it condemned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
