Israeli occupation continues its settlement plans to undermine the chances of establishing an independent Palestinian state

OCCUPIED AL-QUDS, Jun.27, (ST)- the Israeli occupation authorities approved yesterday the start of the construction of 5,291 settlement units in the West Bank, which they announced on the 12th of this month after informing the US administration of the plan and obtaining the green light from it.

They also announced another plan to build 1,332 settlement units as part of their colonial plans that aim at seizing the Palestinian land, and implementing the process of the gradual annexation of the West Bank, in violation of international law and international legitimacy decisions, and in a manner that mirrors its disregard for the international positions that rejects settlement.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the decision of the occupation authorities, which represents a new crime against the Palestinian people and an extension of the occupation’s open war on their existence.

Salah Al-Khawaja, head of the People’s Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) that the settlement plan is divided into two stages. The first one includes building 5291 units, of which 4291 units will be in the outposts that the occupation has turned into settlements with the aim of expanding them, and 1000 units will expand a settlement in the villages of Al-Sawiya, Qaryut, and Al-Laban Al-Sharqiya in Nablus, and the second stage includes building 1,332 settlement units in separate areas in the West Bank.

He pointed out that the occupation is working to seize 28% of the West Bank by intensifying settlements in eastern Jerusalem, southern Hebron, and eastern Ramallah, and completely fragmenting its geography.

For his part, the coordinator of the Documentation Department in the Settlement and Wall Resistance Commission, Amir Daoud, said that the occupation plans now focus on expanding 14 settlements in the West Bank, and what has been announced of settlement units is to expand these settlements with the aim of linking them together to form settlement belts and isolating Palestinian cities and towns from each other. “These measures are accompanied by forced displacement and the demolition of Palestinian homes and facilities.”

Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Wasel Abu Youssef, stressed that the Israeli occupation is gradually annexing the West Bank with the tools of killing, demolition and displacement, accompanied by the consolidation of settlements and the increase in the number of settlers with the aim of creating new facts on the ground geographically and demographically, leading to the seizure of 62 percent of the area of the West Bank. in violation of all international resolutions.

The Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Mustafa Al-Barghouti, pointed out that the escalation of settlement operations and the establishment of settlement outposts are part of the Israeli occupation strategy to liquidate the Palestinian presence, stressing that the occupation will not achieve its goals in the light of the Palestinians’ steadfastness on their land and their resistance to all occupation plans which aime at repeating the tragedy of the Nakba.

Basma Qaddour