West Bank settlers challenge recognition of Palestine
The Israeli government intends to expand settlements as international recognition of a Palestinian state gains momentum, all the while, West Bank settlers have defended Israel’s plan, France 24 reported on September 22nd.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on September 21st that there would not be a Palestinian state, despite many Western nations expressing formal recognition of a Palestinian state.
In a video released by his office, Netanyahu stressed his government’s ongoing settlement plan, saying: “For years, I have prevented the creation of this terrorist state despite enormous pressures, both domestically and internationally. We have doubled Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, and we will continue on this path.”
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, on September 3rd, outlined plans to annex 82% of the occupied West Bank.
On September 11th, Netanyahu visited Ma’ale Adumim, one of the biggest settlements in the occupied West Bank, to announce to the settlement’s 40,000 inhabitants that his government okayed its expansion. “There will be no Palestinian state. This place belongs to us,” Netanyahu added.
Residents of Ma’ale Adumim approved of Netanyahu’s plans, with Dany Hadar, who has lived in the settlement for 40 years, saying the expansion “should have been carried out at least ten years ago”.
Another resident called Eda said the government’s decision was much anticipated by the residents, because “since October 7, 2023, we need to reinforce our security and connect to Jerusalem”.
Despite being aware that the project to expand her city, the third largest settlement in the West Bank, had been condemned by the international community, Eda stressed “we must do everything we can to prevent the creation of a Palestinian state, because they don’t want us, wherever we are. We know they don’t want peace. We already tried. Now we have to build and get on with our lives.”
The proposed annexation of the West Bank would leave the Palestinian Authority in control of six big cities, located in the occupied West Bank.
This plan would practically remove the possibility of a future Palestinian state, while also making a two-state solution unviable.
The annexation plan, comes against a backdrop of the “Greater Israel” plan, which could see Israel expanding its territory into the occupied Palestinian territories, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, as well as parts of Jordan and Syria.
France 24, Maghrebi.org
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