Settlement construction has continued under Israeli regimes for decades: as of last year, more than 130 settlements had been built with Israeli government permission since 1967.
More than 100 unauthorized settlements have been built since the 1990s, and Israeli authorities are seeking to retroactively legalize many of them.
Today, more than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, not including more than 200,000 in East Jerusalem, along with more than 2.7 million Palestinians. Some of the settlements are inhabited by religious Zionists, who believe the area is their biblical birthright. Secular and ultra-Orthodox Jews have also moved there, mainly for cheaper housing.
This year, the Israeli government designated a record amount of land. Approximately 6,000 acresThe announcement that settlements will be eligible for construction by March is another sign of Smotrich’s intention to strengthen Israel’s control over the West Bank.
In March, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk condemned the rapid expansion of settlements after a UN report noted “a dramatic increase in the intensity, severity and frequency of Israeli settler and state violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in particular since 7 October 2023, and an accelerating expulsion of Palestinians from their land.”
The UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Veneslund, said on Tuesday there were signs of rapid reconciliation and the legalisation of the sites. undermine the prospects for a two-state solution.
This appears to be the aim of Smotrich, a staunch opponent of a Palestinian state, who has said he would legalise further settlements if any country declared it recognised the state of Palestine.
In the past two months, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Armenia have formally recognised an independent Palestinian state. Smotrich said in a social media post on Thursday that the latest settlement legalisations were Reactions to these decisions.
“We will continue to develop settlements to maintain Israel’s security and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger our existence,” he said.
Major General Yehuda Fox, commander of Israel’s Central Command in the West Bank, said efforts to crack down on illegal settlement construction had “almost vanished” since Smotrich took office.
Aaron Boxerman Contributed report.
