Johnathan Paoli
Israel has proceeded to appropriate several tracts of land abutting a major Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank, following the intensification of attacks within the region.
The Israeli Defence Ministry’s Civil Administration announced the decision on Thursday, and said that the tracts amounted to 2,640 dunams, or 652 acres and would be designated as part of the Maale Adumim settlement, east of Jerusalem.
Historically, the West Bank is among territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and where Palestinians, with international support, seek statehood.
While most world governments deem the settlements illegal, Israel disputes that, citing historical claims to the West Bank and describing it as a security bulwark.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has promoted the settlements, creating friction with the United States as the allies close ranks over Israel’s war with Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington deemed West Bank settlements inconsistent with international law, reverting to a U.S. position that had been overturned by the administration of then-President Donald Trump.
This move has significant implications in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict and raises concerns about territorial disputes and settlements in the region.
Meanwhile UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said that Israel’s planned ground assault on Rafah in the Gaza Strip would contravene the orders issued by the International Court of Justice.
“I fail to see how such an operation could be consistent with the binding provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice,” Turk said.
Netanyahu said on Sunday the Israeli army would launch a ground invasion of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where an estimated 1.4 million Palestinian civilians have sought refuge from the war.
Israel’s retaliatory bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza have killed over 30,000 Palestinians in under five months, most of them women and children, according to the Palestinian health ministry, with aid agencies warning of a looming famine in the north of the densely populated, besieged territory.
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