Israeli authorities intend to expand the construction of settlements in the Palestinian territory located on the West Bank of the Jordan River. Since the UN considers the settlement illegal, Israel is accused of “colonization” of Palestine. This is reported by Reuters.
According to the newspaper The Times of Israel, 3,000 housing infrastructure facilities will be built in the so-called “zone C” – a special administrative unit that occupies about 60 percent of the West Bank and under the full control of the Armed Forces of Israel. According to the Minister of Defense of Israel, Beni Ganz, 2 thousand houses will be designed for Israeli settlers, and another one more – for Palestinians.
The adoption of the settlement expansion plan will be the first such decree from the moment of coming to power of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in June 2021.
Palestine and a significant part of the world community do not recognize the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank of Jordan. They refer to the UN Security Council resolution, according to which the construction of settlements “has no legal force and is a blatant violation of international law.” Israel does not recognize this decision, referring to security considerations. In 2020, the former Prime Minister of the Countries of Benjamin Netanyahu intended to announce annexation of this territory, but under pressure from the international community and the opposition was forced to abandon these plans.