Settlers have never had ‘so much power’
Yossi Mekelberg, an associate fellow at Chatham House, says as long as the current Israeli government is in power, the situation for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank “will get worse and worse” as the power of the settlers grows.
This includes settler violence, which is “continuing despite the sanctions by different countries”, Mekelberg told Al Jazeera.
Far-right ministers, he said, are using “the fog of war” to approve decisions to expand illegal settlements in the West Bank. “This is the first time in Israeli history that representatives of the settlements, and the settlers, have so much power within the government,” Mekelberg said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “depends on them, even more so” after former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz quit the government coalition a few weeks ago, he added. Their objective, Mekelberg said, is ensuring in the long term that “there is no Palestinian state, settlements are expanding all the time, and eventually, their idea is of annexing the West Bank”.
This is something the international community needs to respond to “with conviction”, he added.
Israeli minister says recognition of Palestinian state prevented in EU
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz says a decision to recognise a Palestinian state was prevented in the EU meeting yesterday through “joint effort and collaboration, [and] with the support of our friends in the EU”.
“Declaring a Palestinian state after the October 7 massacre is a reward for Iran and Hamas and proof that murder, rape, desecration of bodies, and burning of babies pay off,” Katz wrote on X.
“We will continue to work to provide Israel with a ‘Diplomatic Iron Dome’ until all hostages are freed and Hamas is eradicated.”
