Israel to approve $350 mn to build 61 settlements in West Bank: Report

Israel is set to approve $350 million to build 61 Jewish settlements in occupied West Bank, according to Axios' Barak Ravid.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for the plan to be approved before the election cycle kicks in later this year, which would lead to the dissolution of the parliament and disallow the announcement of any major plan.

Under the proposal, the Israeli government would fund temporary residential compounds, public buildings, and infrastructure even before formal planning procedures are completed. This would mean that settlements would start taking shape even before their full formal approvals.

This is the latest move by Netanyahu's government —the most far-right in Israeli history— to expand control in the West Bank and squeeze the land available to the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied territory. In addition to expanding settlements and turning a blind eye to unabated violence against Palestinians by Jewish settlers, his government has taken steps that critics have dubbed the de facto annexation of West Bank.

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Currently, there are around 350 Jewish settlements in West Bank with around 500,000 settlers. These settlements are considered illegal under the international law.

West Bank is divided into three zones, with 60 per cent of the Palestinian land completely under the Israeli control where settlements are built.

The proposal is being led by far-right Netanyahu ally, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is himself a settler.

Ravid noted that many of the settlements mention in the proposal are located in strategically sensitive areas, including along Highway 90 in the Jordan Valley, in the South Hebron Hills, and in locations designed to create territorial continuity between existing settlements.

Observers have long said that Israel has expanded settlements such in West Bank that the Palestinian enclave is increasingly fragmented and different parts of the enclave are isolated from one another, hindering territorial continuity that would be the critical for any Palestinian state. In short, with expanding settlements, Israel is squeezing the land available for any future Palestinian state, according to observers.