Despite pushback from the United States, Israel's national-religious administration disclosed plans on Sunday to sanction the construction of numerous residential units in the contested West Bank region. Washington perceives these attempts to expand settlements as barriers to achieving peace with the Palestinians.
On the upcoming agenda for Israel's Supreme Planning Council meeting, the approval of 4,560 residential units scattered across the West Bank is mentioned. However, out of these, only 1,332 are slated for definitive approval, while the rest remain at the initial clearance stage.
Bezalel Smotrich, the Finance Minister with additional defense responsibilities leading the management of the West Bank, emphasized Israel's intention to "continue to bolster Israeli presence and augment settlement development in the region."
International consensus largely considers these settlements, established on territories seized by Israel during the 1967 Middle East conflict, unlawful. These settlements pose one of the main challenges to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
The Palestinians aim to create a sovereign state encompassing the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and with East Jerusalem as the capital. However, U.S.-mediated peace negotiations have been stagnant since 2014.
In response to Israel's move, the U.S. State Department expressed serious concern, urging Israel to resume discussions to defuse tensions. Matthew Miller, the department spokesperson, reiterated in his statement that "consistent with historical U.S. stance, we disapprove of these single-sided actions that complicate the attainment of a two-state resolution and impede peace."
Since the inception of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government, it has endorsed over 7,000 new housing units, predominantly within the West Bank. Additionally, legislative changes were made to facilitate settlers' return to four formerly vacated settlements.
The Palestinian Authority, exercising restricted autonomy in some West Bank regions, expressed disapproval of Israel's decision by canceling its attendance at a Joint Economic Committee meeting with Israel set for Monday.
The Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas, the de facto governing authority of Gaza since Israel's 2007 military and settler withdrawal, denounced the decision, vowing that it "will not confer legitimacy to Israel's claims over our territories. Our people will combat it through every possible means."
However, Jewish settlers' groups celebrated this news. "The people have opted for further construction in Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley. This is as it should be," stated Shlomo Ne'eman, Mayor of the Gush Etzion Regional Council and Chairman of the Yesha Council, referring to the West Bank by its biblical names.
