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The recent decision by Israel’s far-right government to advance plans for 5,700 new homes in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank has drawn criticism from the US administration, who deemed it “an obstacle to peace”.
This move is part of a larger expansion of settlements by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, in which ultranationalist settlers hold crucial positions. It brings the total number of new housing units advanced this year to over 13,000, nearly triple the figure from last year.
The international community views these settlements as illegal in the West Bank, a territory sought by Palestinians as the core of their future state but occupied by Israel since 1967. The US State Department expressed deep concern over this news, stating that it opposes unilateral actions that hinder the achievement of a two-state solution.
Peace Now, an Israeli advocacy group monitoring the settlements, reported that the number of new housing units announced this year in the West Bank is the highest since systematic data collection began in 2012. They warned that the Israeli government is rapidly pushing towards the full annexation of the West Bank.
This decision by Israel comes at a time of heightened tensions in the West Bank. Since Netanyahu’s government took office in December, violence in the territory has escalated, raising fears of a potential wider escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
This year is on track to be the bloodiest in the West Bank in more than a decade, with Israeli forces conducting nightly raids following a series of Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the spring of last year. According to the latest UN data, Israeli forces have killed 114 Palestinians in the West Bank this year, while Palestinians have killed 16 Israelis. The rate of attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property has also increased by 16% compared to last year, according to the UN.
In the past week, there has been a renewed cycle of violence. It began after Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians and injured over 90 during a raid on the city of Jenin, which led to a multi-hour gun battle with militants.
The following day, two Palestinian gunmen shot and killed four Israelis and injured four more at a petrol station near the Jewish settlement of Eli.
These incidents were followed by a series of attacks by settlers in Palestinian towns in the West Bank, such as Turmus Ayya, where houses and cars were set on fire.
The Palestinian foreign ministry accused Israel of “rewarding settler terrorism” by advancing the new housing units.
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