Authorities recently approved the appropriation of Data from Peace Now, the tracking group, indicate it was the largest single appropriation approved since the Oslo accords at the start of the peace process. Settlement monitors said the land grab connects Israeli settlements along a key corridor bordering Jordan, a move they said undermines the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state.
The newly seized land is in an area of the West Bank where, even before the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, settler violence was displacing communities of Palestinians. Settlers have carried out more than 1, attacks on Palestinians since October in the West Bank, causing deaths and damaging property, according to the U.
The land seizure, which was approved late last month but only publicized on Wednesday, comes after the seizure of 8 square kilometers roughly 3 square miles of land in the West Bank in March and 2. By declaring them state lands, the government opens them up to being leased to Israelis and prohibits private Palestinian ownership.
The lands were declared to be closed Israeli military zones before they were declared state land. The Palestinians view the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank as the main barrier to any lasting peace agreement, preventing any possibility of a cohesive state. Most of the international community considers settlements illegal or illegitimate.
Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the Mideast war, territories the Palestinians want for a future state. Israel has built well over settlements across the West Bank, some of which resemble fully developed suburbs or small towns. They are home to over , Jewish settlers who have Israeli citizenship. The 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule.
