Israel seized 2,370 hectares of land in the West Bank this year, the largest land grab in 30 years
Israel has announced the most significant land seizure in the occupied West Bank in more than three decades, drawing international condemnation and fears that it could deal a severe blow to the prospect of a viable Palestinian state. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced his office’s plan to take over 800 hectares (1,977 acres) in the northern Jordan Valley. What the Peace Now watchdog group named the most extensive designation of its kind since the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords, Israel has declared “state land” in this area.
This latest expropriation of land follows a month of tensions and clashes between Israelis and Palestinian militants based in Gaza. The United Nations regards Israel’s advancement of its illegal settlement enterprise as one of the central obstacles to peace. The UN rights chief noted that such activities significantly increased during Israel’s war on Gaza and warned that these actions risk drowning any last prospect of a two-state resolution.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was in Israel for talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, condemned the settlement expansion, terming it something unrelated to the quest for sustained peace. Israel has continued building in the West Bank despite international opposition; the settlements have swelled to over 490,000 Israelis living in and around 3 million Palestinians.
The leader of Religious Zionism, the far-right party, and a resident in one of the West Bank settlements, Smotrich, justified the land expropriation, reinforcing military stakes in what Israel terms as Judea and Samaria. The move is seen as part of a larger plan to strengthen Israel’s presence and stakes over the disputed territories.
The announcement served to heighten the already volatile situation in the region, and Palestinian authorities, along with most human rights organizations, passed a harsh condemnation. Because they violate international laws and deepen the humanitarian crisis for Palestinians in the occupied territories.
The decision is set to increase and intensify the already volatile situation in the region, with harsh condemnations by the Palestinian authorities and international human rights bodies. Hence, they indicate that land grabs do not only violate international law but also increase the humanitarian crisis that the Palestinians in the occupied territories are going through.
