Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has revealed plans to rebuild Sa-Nur, a settlement in the occupied West Bank, amid an ongoing major settlement campaign, according to AFP.
Revival of Israeli Settlements
As part of Israel’s so-called disengagement policy, Sa-Nur’s settlers were evacuated in 2005.
Over the past two decades, several members of Israeli settler movement have urged return to Sa-Nur and other evacuated settlements in the northern West Bank.
Smotrich stated that “we are correcting the mistake of the expulsion” in 2005 during his visit to to Sa-Nur along with families who argued that they are preparing to live in the area.
“Even back then, we knew that … we would one day return to all the places we were driven out of,” “That applies to Gaza, and it’s even more true here,” said the far-right minister who lives in a settlement.
In a response to the visit, the Palestinian Authority strongly condemned the Israeli move and considered it as part of Israel’s “plans to entrench the gradual annexation of the West Bank, posing a direct threat to the possibility of implementing the two-state solution.”
Moreover, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry noted that the move “to revive settlements that were evacuated 20 years ago” would result in further confiscation of Palestinian lands.
West Bank Annexation
In July, over 70 Israeli lawmakers passed a motion in the Knesset on Wednesday, calling on the government to annex the West Bank amid mounting violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition and some opposition lawmakers have supported this non-binding vote in the Knesset. However, this symbolic move has nothing to do with the Palestinian territory’s legal status.
Furthermore, fifteen Israeli Cabinet Ministers from Netanyahu’s Likud party have recently pushed him to immediately annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The lawmakers have signed a petition requesting the administration “to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria (West Bank) before the end of the Knesset summer session,” which ends on July 27.
They also implied that the current moment is appropriate for the annexation thanks to strong US-Israeli relations and the recent military gains.
Building Jewish State
In May, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israel planned to build a “Jewish Israeli state” in the occupied West Bank, according to Al-Arabiya.
Katz’s remarks followed Israel’s announcement of the creation of 22 new settlements in the West Bank.
He also noted that the new settlements would be a clear message to French President Emmanuel Macron and his associates: they will recognize a Palestinian state on paper – but Israel will build the Jewish Israeli state here on the ground.
Related Topics:
Palestinians Protest against Settler Outpost at West Bank
UN Rights Office Reports Increasing Settler Attacks in Occupied West Bank
Saudi Arabia Spearheads Condemnation of Israeli Knesset’s Motion to Annex West Bank
