Israel has announced the seizure of 800 hectares (1,977 acres) of land in the occupied West Bank, marking one of the largest land grabs in decades, according to reports on Friday. The area in the northern Jordan Valley was declared as “state lands” by Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, coinciding with the arrival of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Israel for talks on the Gaza war.
The move, denounced by activists and the international community, is seen as a significant escalation in Israel’s settlement activities in the Palestinian territories. Settlement watchdog Peace Now described this land seizure as the largest since the Oslo Accords of 1993, highlighting a concerning trend in Israel’s expansionist policies.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. The declaration of “state lands” in the West Bank is part of Israel’s settlement agenda, despite widespread condemnation and the illegality of settlements under international law.
Finance Minister Smotrich, representing the extreme-right Religious Zionism party, justified the seizure as a strategic move to promote settlement in the West Bank. Settlement expansion has been a contentious issue, with Blinken and others criticizing it as counterproductive to achieving lasting peace with the Palestinians.
The United Nations has raised concerns about the acceleration of illegal settlement building, warning that it could undermine the prospects for a viable Palestinian state. The presence of over 490,000 Israelis in settlements across the West Bank complicates the territorial and political landscape, posing challenges to the two-state solution.
Blinken’s visit to Israel includes discussions on the Gaza war and settlement expansion, with the US emphasizing the need to halt settlement activities as a step towards achieving a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, Israel’s persistence in expanding settlements underscores the complexities and obstacles to reaching a lasting peace agreement in the region.
Sources By Agencies
