Published 20 August 2023
Despite international criticism, Israel has maintained control over the West Bank, which it seized during the 1967 war.
On Saturday, Palestine condemned and rejected Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s plan to legalize 155 Israeli settlement outposts in the West Bank.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the spokesperson of the Palestinian presidency, said that the plan “is condemned and rejected,” adding that “under international resolutions, Israeli settlement on the lands of Palestine is illegal.”
Israel Radio reported that Smotrich began promoting a plan to control Area C of the occupied West Bank, including the legalization of 155 settlement outposts.
Area C, the largest and most strategically important part of the West Bank, covers about 60 percent of the territory. It is under Israeli control, including for security, planning, and land use.
“Israel and its extremist ministers will not succeed in authorizing any settlement established on the land of Palestine,” Abu Rudeineh said, mentioning the resolution 2334 issued by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in December 2016.
This UNSC document stipulates the need to remove all settlements, which are illegal and in violation of international law, adding that the United States “bears the responsibility to stop such dangerous decisions.”
“This policy, aimed at waging war against the Palestinian people and providing protection for settler terrorism, drags the region into the repetitive cycle of violence and escalation,” the Palestinian spokesman said.
Over 600,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Despite international criticism, Israel has maintained control over the West Bank, which it seized during the 1967 Middle East war.
The Palestinians and most of the international community consider Israeli settlement expansion in the area as a major hurdle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians.