Israel advances over 1,000 illegal settlement units in occupied West Bank
Palestinian commission says expansion plan deepens land theft and de facto annexation as Israel accelerates seizure of occupied Palestinian territory
RAMALLAH, Palestine (MNTV) — Israel is pressing ahead with plans to build more than 1,000 new illegal settlement units across the occupied West Bank, further entrenching its occupation and accelerating what Palestinian authorities describe as the systematic confiscation of Palestinian land in defiance of international law.
The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said Israeli authorities have advanced nine settlement plans since the beginning of July, covering more than 1,069 dunams (about 1,264 acres) of occupied Palestinian land.
The proposals include 1,024 settlement housing units, with hundreds already approved while the remainder have entered the formal planning process.
The commission accused Israel of intensifying a long-standing policy aimed at cementing permanent control over occupied Palestinian territory through continuous settlement expansion.
It said the projects are designed to strengthen settlement blocs, increase the settler population and further isolate Palestinian communities by expanding illegal colonies and linking them with Israeli infrastructure.
According to the commission, Israel is increasingly relying on the expansion of existing settlements instead of establishing entirely new ones.
Officials said amendments to zoning regulations, land-use plans and construction policies are being used to significantly increase settlement density while severely restricting Palestinian urban growth.
Among the approved projects is a major expansion of the illegal Mevo Dotan settlement, built on land belonging to the Palestinian town of Arraba in the southern Jenin area. The plan adds 455 new settlement units across nearly 539 dunams of occupied land.
Israeli authorities have also advanced proposals to enlarge the illegal settlements of Beit Hagai and Asael in the Hebron governorate. Those projects would add another 569 settlement units across more than 519 dunams of occupied Palestinian territory.
The commission said the settlement drive forms part of a broader Israeli strategy to alter the demographic and geographic character of the occupied West Bank, describing it as an organized process of de facto annexation intended to make Israel’s illegal occupation permanent while denying Palestinians the ability to develop their own towns and cities.
The United Nations has repeatedly declared that Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories have no legal validity under international law and constitute a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
International bodies have consistently warned that continued settlement expansion undermines prospects for a just and lasting peace based on a two-state solution.
Palestinians continue to demand East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent Palestinian state, rejecting Israel’s occupation and unilateral annexation of the city, which remains unrecognized by the international community.
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