Approval of new settlements aims to thwart two-state solution
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim has said Israel’s decision to approve 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank aimed to cement Israel’s hold over the area and thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“They are retroactively recognising illegal settlements that already exist [to fill] in the gaps of places remaining for the Palestinians in the West Bank,” she said.
“More Western governments are now discussing recognising a Palestinian state, that’s why we have seen settler leaders pressuring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to … cement their control.”
According to the UN, Israel demolished more than 1,700 Palestinian homes last year and seized 24 square kilometres of land. Palestinians need Israeli permits to build infrastructure in 61 percent of the occupied West Bank, which are rarely approved.
Israel’s Defence Ministry stated that the goal was “to strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory, to avoid the establishment of a Palestinian state, and to create the basis for future development of settlement in the coming decades”.
Almost a year ago now the ICJ ruled the occupation of the Westbank illegal https://www.icj-cij.org/node/204176
"This illegality relates to the entirety of the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in 1967. This is the territorial unit across which Israel has imposed policies and practices to fragment and frustrate the ability of the Palestinian people to exercise its right to self-determination, and over large swathes of which it has extended Israeli sovereignty in violation of international law. The entirety of the Occupied Palestinian Territory is also the territory in relation to which the Palestinian people should be able to exercise its right to self-determination, the integrity of which must be respected.
Responding to an argument made by three participants, the Court observes that the Oslo Accords do not permit Israel to annex parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory in order to meet its security needs. Nor do they authorize Israel to maintain a permanent presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory for such security needs."
The UN / UNSC have yet to act on the ruling.
What’s happening in the occupied West Bank?
Here are the latest updates:
- Israeli forces are currently storming the village of al-Mughair, northeast of Ramallah, to carry out home demolitions, our colleagues report.
- Israeli forces have been raiding the city of Nablus for the last few hours, with an intense deployment of soldiers and military vehicles. Troops have forced dozens of residents living near the slain Jafar Muna home to vacate their homes. Muna’s house is being demolished by Israeli forces, as authorities claim he was responsible for a bombing in Tel Aviv in 2024. Local sources reported that the Israeli forces fired sound bombs during their storming of the old town in Nablus.
- Israeli settlers destroyed Palestinian agricultural land east of Yatta, south of Hebron, sources told Al Jazeera.
- Israeli forces stormed the town of Ceres, south of Jenin, and surrounded a house, alongside an intense army deployment in the vicinity of the town.
- Israeli forces arrested five Palestinians during a raid on several homes in the town of Zeita, north of Tulkarem, before withdrawing, following a 24-hour assault on the town. Sources reported that troops carried out a campaign of raids and searches of several homes. They also set up military checkpoints at the town’s entrances, preventing residents from moving, detaining a few, and interrogating them on the spot.
