Israel approves West Bank settlement project despite opposition

JERUSALEM: Israel approved a major settlement project on Wednesday in an area of the occupied West Bank that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state.

Separately, Israel’s defence minister approved a plan on Wednesday for the conquest of Gaza City and authorised the call-up of around 60,000 reservists.

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The mayor of the nearby Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, Guy Yifrach, said in a statement, “I am pleased to announce that just a short while ago, the civil administration approved the planning for the construction of the E1 neighbourhood.”

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Israel has long had ambitions to build on the roughly 12 square kilometres (five square miles) known as E1 that lie just east of Jerusalem, but the plan had been stalled for years amid international opposition.

The move comes Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich last week talked about burying the idea of a Palestinian state.

Smotrich had announced work would start on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and cut if off from East Jerusalem, a move his office said would “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state.

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A day before his statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had endorsed the idea of Greater Israel, resulting a backlash from the Arab states.

When asked by i24NEWS interviewer Sharon Gal if he subscribed to such a “vision” for a Greater Israel, Netanyahu said “absolutely”, adding, “If you ask me what I think, we’re there.”

He then pivoted to a comment about the founding of Israel and the “great mission” of ensuring its continued existence.

APARTHEID REGIME

Immediately after Smotrich made the announcement, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had said the United Nations calls on Israel to reverse its decision to start work on a long-delayed settlement that would divide the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem.

“It would put an end to prospects of a two-state solution,” Dujarric told reporters.

“Settlements go against international law… further entrench the occupation.”

All of Israel’s settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, are considered illegal under international law, regardless of whether they have Israeli planning permission.

In this connection, Aviv Tatarsky, a researcher at the Israeli anti-settlement organisation Ir Amim, said: “Today’s approval demonstrates how determined Israel is in pursuing what Minister Smotrich has described as a strategic programme to bury the possibility of a Palestinian state and to effectively annex the West Bank.

“This is a conscious Israeli choice to implement an apartheid regime,” he added, calling on the international community to take urgent and effective measures against the move.

Israeli NGO Peace Now, which monitors settlement activity in the West Bank, said last week that infrastructure work in E1 could begin within a few months, and housing construction within about a year.

Excluding east Jerusalem, the West Bank is home to around three million Palestinians, as well as about 500,000 Israeli settlers.

GAZA CITY

According to Israeli army radio, the military was preparing for a “prolonged operation of several months that will run into 2026”.

An Israeli military official told journalists on Wednesday that the new phase of combat would involve “a gradual precise and targeted operation in and around Gaza City,” including some areas where forces had not previously operated.

The official said the military had already begun operating in the neighbourhoods of Zeitoun and Jabalia as part of the initial stages.