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ARCHIVE - A general view of an Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Photo: Mahmoud Illean/AP/dpa
Keystone
Israel has approved the construction of 5,295 housing units in the occupied West Bank. Furthermore, three settler outposts are to be legalized, according to the human rights organization Peace Now. The High Planning Council, a body of the military administration for the West Bank, has passed the corresponding resolutions.
The occupation authorities had already decided to legalize five outposts the previous week. These improvised settlements are mostly built on hilltops and consist of caravans. They are also illegal under Israeli law, but are occasionally legalized retroactively.
Under international law, any settlement activity in militarily occupied territory is illegal. During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem, among other territories. Today, around 700,000 Israeli settlers live there among three million Palestinians. According to Peace Now, there were 250,000 in 1993.
Since the end of 2022, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has governed in a coalition with ultra-religious and far-right parties. The far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is himself a settler, has secured a say in the military administration in the West Bank as a result of the coalition agreements. This allows him to decisively influence the approval of the construction of settlements.
04.07.2024, 20:28
