Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, announced the seizure of 10 square kilometers (3.8 square miles) of Palestinian territory in the West Bank on Friday. The move marks the single largest land seizure by the Israeli government since the 1993 Oslo accords, according to Peace Now, a settlement watchdog group.
“While there are those in Israel and the world who seek to undermine our right over the Judea and Samaria area and the country in general,” Smotrich said Friday, referring to the territory by its biblical name, “we are promoting settlement through hard work and in a strategic manner all over the country.”
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law. Still, Israel has used land orders like the one issued Friday to gain control over 16 percent of Palestinian-controlled lands in the West Bank. The newly seized area includes parcels in the Jordan Valley and between the settlements of Maale Adumim and Keidar.
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According to the laws surrounding the sanctions on settlers, the Biden administration must now start applying sanctions to Israel.
🙃
Don’t hold your breath.
🫠
Not. Going. To. Happen.
His actions and policies outline that when Israel buys arms from the US, his family profits.
This is why he is so fervently pro-genocide.
According to Trump West Bank settlement is in accordance with international law.
So in terms of practical outcomes from this development, the Biden admin is as bad as a hypothetical Trump admin? Oh dear.
Political class is pro Israel, peasants not liking optics of funding an ethnic cleansing campaign has about -69% impact on the policy making process. Israel is getting support and political cover, fuck all any one can do about it.
Russia is the real winner all around here though.
Yep, Israel is too dependent an ally in a region vital to our interests. The Senate is loyal to the Empire, if not the Emperor.
peasants not liking
I’m slightly less skeptical - I think the castle is slightly concerned and we may see some tangential policy concessions, like that delay on Palestinian deportations. Mostly we’ll get a lot more public pretending I expect.
im going to make a very psychic call here that this wont be the last. why genocide if youre not going to steal land?
spite?
Invasion.
It’s not a seizure, it’s a military invasion, and will lead to genocide.
Hitler invading Poland. Russia invading Ukraine. Israel invading West Bank. There are a lot of parallels.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The announcement came as Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the future of the war in Gaza.
Blinken’s arrival followed meetings in Cairo with several Arab leaders, and amid calls from Democratic senators for President Biden to establish a “bold, public framework” for a two-state solution that recognizes a “nonmilitarized Palestinian state.”
In recent years, the Housing Ministry has offered subsidized apartments in the West Bank through a lottery system.
After the 1967 war, Israel issued a military order that stopped the process of land registration across the West Bank.
Dahlia Scheindlin, an Israeli political analyst, called the Friday land transfer announcement by Smotrich a “provocation,” but also the continuation of his pro-settler ideological project.
“He entered the government with one overriding purpose: to annex all land conquered in 1967 and extend permanent Jewish sovereignty everywhere, no matter how and when it has to happen,” Scheindlin said.
The original article contains 738 words, the summary contains 159 words. Saved 78%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
