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Israel confiscates 5,930 acres of land in occupied West Bank
JERUSALEM
Israel announced Thursday the confiscation of 24,000 dunams (5,930 acres) of land in the occupied West Bank, declaring it “state land” with the aim of expanding several settlements in the area.
According to Israel’s Channel 14, Israeli authorities led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the move in what is described as one of the largest land appropriations in decades.
The broadcaster noted that the decision covers nearly half of the land declared as state land since the Oslo Accords in 1993.
No official statement or announcement has been issued by the Israeli government or the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the decision.
The channel highlighted that the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim east of Jerusalem would be expanded by approximately 2,600 dunams (642 acres) to the south to create continuity with the settlement of Kedar.
Additionally, according to the channel, settlements such as Migdal Oz and Susya in the southern West Bank and Yafit in the Jordan Valley will also be expanded.
The channel quoted Smotrich, who claimed that the decision was a “historic achievement that contributes to strengthening settlement activity and expanding land designated for infrastructure and settlement projects.”
On Nov. 11, the far-right minister said that next year will see the application of Israeli sovereignty over the occupied West Bank.
International law views both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as “occupied territories” and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity there as illegal.
In July, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark advisory opinion that declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
(AA)