Bezalel Smotrich Launches Revolution In Settlement Expansion Into Negev And Galilee

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared that Israel has launched a “revolution in settlement” expansion, saying illegal outposts would be extended beyond the occupied West Bank into the Negev and Galilee.

“The expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank is proceeding with the full support of the United States, said Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to The Jerusalem Post, while also signaling his desire to obtain sovereignty over the entire territory”

African Manager

Al Jazeera reported that the far-right minister’s post on X followed Israeli cabinet approval to establish 13 new settlements in the central occupied West Bank, in strategically critical parts of the territory.

African Manager

The project, Al Jazeera said, focuses on strategic corridors along Route 60 linking major Palestinian cities including Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem, and extends eastward towards the Jordan Valley.

Palestinian officials warned that the expansion would further isolate occupied East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, undermining any prospect of a two-state solution.

Al Jazeera also tied the push to the period since 2022, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed the most far-right government in Israel’s history, which includes ministers leading figures in the settler movement.

Smotrich told The Jerusalem Post that the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank is proceeding with the full support of the United States, and he also signaled his desire to obtain sovereignty over the entire territory.

He said Israel benefited from 'coordination and full support from the current U.S. government and administration for everything related to construction, regulation, and security in the West Bank,' and he added that all actions were coordinated with President Donald Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

Al Jazeera

TRT Français reported that Smotrich said he intends to promote a policy aimed at 'encouraging migration' of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and he asserted: 'We will finally, formally and concretely, cancel the accursed Oslo Accords and commit to the path of sovereignty.'

TRT Français also said the missions of 85 countries to the UN denounced the measures, stating, 'We strongly condemn the unilateral decisions and measures by Israel to extend its illegal presence in the West Bank,' and they said the decisions must be reversed immediately.

The same TRT Français report quoted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calling the land-registration policy 'destabilizing' and 'illegal'.

As settlement expansion accelerates, Al Jazeera said the violence by settlers against Palestinians has coincided with the expansion, including settlers destroying the main electricity line in the village of al-Maniya and cutting power to the community.

“Arabic version:وزير المالية الإسرائيلي يروج لخطط توسيع المستوطنات الكبرى Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has declared that Israel has launched a “revolution in settlement” expansion, which he says will see illegal outposts extended beyond the occupied West Bank into the Negev and Galilee”

Oz Arab Media

Al Jazeera reported that in May alone the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC) documented 1,659 attacks by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank, with settlers directly responsible for 551 of those incidents.

The same report said the Israeli state ramped up demolition of Palestinian homes with 70 demolition operations carried out in May, destroying 155 Palestinian structures across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, with the Jerusalem governorate suffering most with 50 structures demolished in a single month.

Since October 8, 2023, Al Jazeera said the combined violence of Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank has resulted in the killing of 1,175 Palestinians and injuries to 12,919, while about 24,000 Palestinians have been arrested and 33,000 displaced from their homes.

In parallel, جريدة القدس said observers believe bulldozing operations in the Shuafat Airport area near Qalandia village aim to completely isolate Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings and divide the West Bank into isolated cantons, making communication between them difficult.