Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to separate 13 Jewish settlements in the West Bank occupied by Israelis from its neighboring communities, said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The agreements will ultimately be recognized as independent, published in X on the movement, which follows the approval of tens of thousands of housing units in the West Bank.
“We continue to lead a revolution of normalization and regulation in settlements. Instead of hiding and apologizing, we raise the flag, we build and establish ourselves. This is another important step on the road to real sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said, using the Israel term for the West Bank.
Israel’s opposition to the cisjordan cedent control has been deepened due to its fears of a repetition of the militants led by Hamas on October 7, 2023. His army says that he is carrying out anti -terrorist operations in the West Bank and addresses alleged militants.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized the approval of the separation of neighborhoods and their recognition as independent settlements that ignore international legitimacy and resolutions.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that governs Gaza, condemned the move in the West Bank, describing it as a “desperate attempt to impose realities on the land and consolidate the colonial occupation in the Palestinian lands.”
Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Land Israel captured in 1967 during the six -day war. Most countries believe that Israel’s settlements in territory seized in the war are illegal. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties with the earth.
Israel Pro-Settler politicians have been emboldened by the return to the White House of the president of the United States, Donald Trump.
Smotrich, head of the Religious Zionism Party of the extreme right and a key partner in the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has asked for years Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank.
He pointed out that so far the 13 settlements were formally considered part of their matrices communities, in some cases for decades, which, according to him, caused significant difficulties in his daily management.
“Recognizing each of them as an independent settlement is an important step that will greatly help its progress and development,” said Smotrich.
