“This reckless decision undermines Israeli national security and our relations with the United States,” said in a statement the entity, which was founded by former military personnel. “This illegitimate government is led by a messianic minority that threatens our lives,” it stressed.

The Ministerial Council for Political and Security Affairs last night approved the legalization of five outpost settlements in the West Bank and plans to build thousands of new housing units in colonies there. The announcement was made by the head of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, known for his anti-Palestinian positions and in defense of the total occupation of the West Bank.

The colonies are the seed of future Jewish colonies in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem. All of them are considered illegal by the international community and various resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.

The Palestinian Commission for Resistance to the Wall and Colonization denounced that Israel recently drew up a list of more than 70 colonial posts to work to resolve their situation by providing them with basic services and security. “The objective is to impose a system of ghettos and cantons to prevent the creation of a viable Palestinian state,” the Commission warned.

The Central Statistics Office noted last March that Israel confiscated 50,526 dunums of Palestinian land (just over five thousand hectares) in 2023, almost doubling the figure from the previous year.

According to official data, more than 250,000 Jewish settlers live in the occupied East Jerusalem area and another 500,000 in the rest of the West Bank.

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