Israel pushes for more illegal settlements in occupied West Bank amid raids

Israeli authorities are moving guardant with plans to dramatically grow amerciable settlements successful the occupied West Bank, contempt increasing planetary condemnation and warnings that the determination would destruct already moribund prospects for a two-state solution.

The Israeli authorities has acceptable Wednesday arsenic the day to sermon gathering thousands of caller lodging units successful the E1 area, eastbound of occupied East Jerusalem. The projected enlargement would nexus the ample and amerciable Ma’ale Adumim colony with Jerusalem, efficaciously bisecting the West Bank and isolating Palestinian communities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right authorities besides appears connected the cusp of announcing its volition to inhabit each of Gaza arsenic its genocidal warfare connected the besieged enclave rages on.

The E1 program successful the West Bank has agelong been criticised by the planetary community, including the European Union and successive United States administrations. In 2022, Israel postponed the program pursuing US pressure, but successful caller months, the authorities approved road-widening projects successful the country and began restricting Palestinian entree – a determination rights groups accidental indicates a renewed propulsion to entrench control.

Israeli settlements successful the West Bank and East Jerusalem are amerciable nether planetary law. The International Court of Justice, the apical United Nations tribunal, reaffirmed that position last year, saying that Israel’s beingness successful the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and indispensable extremity “as rapidly arsenic possible”.

On Monday, Germany reiterated its beardown absorption to the E1 project.

“We, arsenic the national government, powerfully cull the E1 colony project,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kathrin Deschauer said. “What we are acrophobic astir is that a two-state solution is imaginable successful the agelong term.”

The program would spot astir 1,214 hectares (3,000 acres) of Palestinian onshore stolen to physique much than 4,000 colony units, arsenic good arsenic hotels and roads connecting Ma’ale Adumim to West Jerusalem.

Palestinians accidental the task is portion of broader efforts to “Judaise” East Jerusalem and entrench Israeli power implicit occupied territories successful usurpation of planetary law.

Palestinian leaders question the entirety of the West Bank, on with the Gaza Strip, and arsenic a capital, East Jerusalem – areas Israel captured successful the 1967 warfare – for their aboriginal state.

Currently, much than 500,000 settlers are surviving successful the West Bank, and immoderate 220,000 others successful East Jerusalem.

Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim said the program has been successful the works since “the aboriginal 90s”.

“The program has been described by US officials … arsenic devastating and a disastrous plan,” Ibrahim said, arsenic it threatens “the unity” of a imaginable Palestinian state.

According to Ibrahim, the Israeli nonsubjective is to guarantee determination is “no Palestinian authorities connected the ground” by the clip Western and European countries recognise Palestine arsenic a state.

Israel would beryllium “cutting the West Bank into truthful galore antithetic sections, fragmenting them, creating what Palestinians person been calling arsenic cantons,” she said, predicting that his would propulsion Palestinians into “very small, caged communities”.

Widening crackdown successful the West Bank

The determination comes amid a broader Israeli crackdown successful the occupied West Bank. At slightest 30 Palestinians were arrested overnight crossed aggregate cities including Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Tulkarem, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.

Among those detained were 2 women, a pistillate journalist, and respective erstwhile prisoners. The committee said much than 18,500 Palestinians person been arrested successful the West Bank since Israel began its genocidal battle connected Gaza successful October 2023.

In Bethlehem, residents of Beit Iskaria colony received forced displacement notices this week arsenic Israeli forces moved to prehend much onshore for colony enlargement successful the Gush Etzion bloc. According to colony assembly caput Muhammad Atallah, soldiers ordered him and his household to vacate grapevine-covered farmland wrong 10 days.

Separately, Israeli forces carried retired demolitions successful the cultivation suburb adjacent Jalazone exile campy northbound of Ramallah, with reports that soldiers were accompanied by settlers. In Dar Salah, eastbound of Bethlehem, a gathering nether operation was demolished by Israeli subject vehicles.

According to rights groups, July unsocial saw 75 demolitions successful the West Bank targeting 122 structures, including 60 homes and dozens of cultivation and livelihood facilities.

Along with arrests and demolitions, Palestinians person besides seen a emergence successful settler attacks successful caller months. Armed settlers, often backed by Israeli soldiers, person rampaged done Palestinian villages, torched crops, vandalised homes, and assaulted residents with impunity, resulting successful respective Palestinian deaths.

Rights groups and United Nations officials person warned that settler unit has reached grounds levels, portion of what they picture arsenic a coordinated run to forcibly displace Palestinians from cardinal areas of the West Bank.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities issued a six-month prohibition connected Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, the expansive mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian territory, from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque.

According to the Wafa quality agency, the Jerusalem governorate, quoting lawyer Khaldoun Najm, said the prohibition connected Hussein follows the expiration of his eight-day ban.

This astir caller prohibition was imposed aft his Friday sermon, wherever helium condemned Israel’s starvation argumentation against Palestinians successful Gaza.

Last week, Hussein was handed an archetypal eight-day expulsion bid from the mosque.