#illegal settlements

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has approved the largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in over three decades, a settlement tracking group said Wednesday, a move that is likely to worsen already soaring tensions linked to the war in Gaza.

Israel’s aggressive expansion in the West Bank reflects the settler community’s strong influence in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most religious and nationalist in the country’s history. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler himself, has turbocharged the policy of expansion, seizing new authorities over settlement development and saying he aims to solidify Israel’s hold on the territory and prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.

Authorities recently approved the appropriation of 12.7 square kilometers (nearly 5 square miles) of land in the Jordan Valley, according to a copy of the order obtained by The Associated Press. Data from Peace Now, the tracking group, indicate it was the largest single appropriation approved since the 1993 Oslo accords at the start of the peace process.

Settlement monitors said the land grab connects Israeli settlements along a key corridor bordering Jordan, a move they said undermines the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric called it “a step in the wrong direction,” adding that “the direction we want to be heading is to find a negotiated two-state solution.”

The newly seized land is in an area of the West Bank where, even before the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, settler violence was displacing communities of Palestinians. That violence has only surged since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited the war in Gaza. Settlers have carried out more than 1,000 attacks on Palestinians since October in the West Bank, causing deaths and damaging property, according to the U.N.

The land seizure, which was approved late last month but only publicized on Wednesday, comes after the seizure of 8 square kilometers (roughly 3 square miles) of land in the West Bank in March and 2.6 square kilometers (1 square mile) in February.

That makes 2024 by far the peak year for Israeli land seizure in the West Bank, Peace Now said.

By declaring them state lands, the government opens them up to being leased to Israelis and prohibits private Palestinian ownership.

One day you win an Oscar and a week later this happens to you. No comment needed. Speaks volumes about the people doing this.

" We are working to end this war, such that ... the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realise their right to dignity, security, freedom and self determination "

I am aware that this isn't a war, but a horriffic genocide that US and other countries like UK, Germany etc funds, but the fact that Kamala is mentioning this at all , let alone to this extent is huge. To say this much about securing freedom for the Palestinian people, self determination , dignity, and to end the suffering in Gaza is more than any US politician, let alone presidential candidate has even admitted. She is reaching her hand across the aisle, at the risk of angering dangerous Israel and its supporters- do not ignore it.

She is the most progressive candidate on Palestine that there actually is, and you can only vote out of the candidates you have

You have her.

Her position on Palestine is different to the current government's and Biden's.

The only chance Palestine has here, at all, is Kamala as president.-

Vote for her

“Israel will do everything it can to keep civilians out of harm’s way.” – President Joe Biden

“Israel will do everything it can to put civilians in harm’s way!”

Israeli Military Sopkesman: Pres. Joe Biden

Stories of Crimean Tatars deported by soviet authorities