Israel legalizes another 19 settlements in the West Bank
Settlements are illegal under international law, but Netanyahu's government has been granting them legal status for years. It has already legalized 69 settlements since 2022. Hamas describes the decision as a "colonial step" and accuses Israel of wanting to "plunder Palestinian territory."
Ma'ale Adumin settlement in East Jerusalem.
The Israeli Council of Ministers today granted legal status to 19 settlementsin the northern West Bank, including the Ganim and Kadim settlements, which under international law are illegal, some of which were dismantled by the Israeli army itself in 2005 as part of the withdrawal process from the Gaza Strip.
In May, when Spain, Norway and Ireland granted recognition to the State of Palestine, the army allowed the settlers to return to the areas. Today it has taken another step and legalized them.
"After 20 years, we are repairing the painful injustice by re-inserting Ganim and Kadim into the settlement map," Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stressed.
He recalled that Israel has legalized 69 settlements in the West Bank overthe past three years; "we have broken all records," he added. Smotrich said, "The people of Israel are returning to their territory, rebuilding it and gaining control." This is a simple, just and moral Zionism. "
In a message shared on the X network, he stressed that decisions seek to prevent "the establishment of a terrorist Palestinian state."
Today, 500,000 settlers live in the occupied territories of the West Bank and another 200,000 in East Jerusalem.
Hamas and other Palestinian organizations denounce Israel's colonialist attitude
The Hamas Islamic Resistance Movement has denounced in a statement the legalization of the settlements in Israel as "another colonialist step that consolidates the policy of progressive annexation." In its view, the Netanyahu government intends to "plunder" Palestinian territory by violating "the historical and legal rights of our people."
For his part, the head of the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee, Muayad Shaban, has stated that the decisions "reveal the true intentions of occupation" of Israel, which aims to "consolidate the entire system of annexation, apartheid and Judaization in Palestine".
Shaban recalled that settlements are " contraryto international law and UN Security Council resolutions, in particular Resolution 2334. "
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