TEL AVIV: Israel on Friday claimed to seize 1,977 acres of land in the occupied West Bank, which activists termed the largest in decades.
Finance Minister of Israel’s Bezalel Smotrich made the announcement regarding the area in the northern Jordan Valley, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reached in Israel for talks on Gaza war.
Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now stated the area of the seized land is the largest since 1993’s Oslo Accords.
Israel sized the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Smotrich went on to say that those in Israel is promoting settlement through hard work and in a strategic manner all over the country. However, it is pertinent to mention that settlements in the Palestinian territories are illegal under international law.
The Smotrich, who leads the extreme-right Religious Zionism party, also lives in a settlement. Despite opposition across the world, Israel has built dozens of settlements across the West Bank in recent decades.
The illegal settlements are now home to more than 490,000 Israelis, who live with three million Palestinians in the area.
The United Nations human rights chief has reported a rapid acceleration in illegal settlement construction since Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza started two months ago, and said these risks eradicate any possibility of a viable Palestinian state.
US Secretary Blinken has termed settlement expansion as counterproductive to achieving enduring peace with the Palestinians.
