Israeli troops mass in occupied West Bank
Jerusalem:
Israel reported on Friday it had seized 800 hectares (1,977 acres) of land in the occupied West Bank, in what activists said was the largest such operation in decades.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezarel Smotrich declared the northern Jordan Valley “national land” as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel for Gaza war talks.
Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said the size of the occupied area was the largest since the 1993 Oslo Accords and that “2024 marks the peak in the scope of declared state land”.
In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Israel occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
“While there are those in Israel and around the world who seek to undermine our rights to Judea and Samaria and the country as a whole, we are working diligently and strategically across the country to push for a solution,” Smotrich said. Israel vs. West Bank title.
Settlement in Palestinian territories is illegal under international law.
Smotrich, the leader of the far-right Religious Zionist party, lives in a settlement.
Despite opposition from abroad, Israel has built dozens of settlements in the West Bank in recent decades.
Today, more than 490,000 Israelis live here, along with some 3 million Palestinians living in the area.
The United Nations human rights chief has reported a sharp acceleration in illegal settlement construction since Israel launched a war against Hamas in Gaza just months ago, saying it threatens to eliminate any possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state.
Blinken called settlement expansion “inimical to achieving a lasting peace with the Palestinians.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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