OIC condemns Israel’s construction of 4,000 settlements
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned Israeli occupation forces’ plans to construct 4,000 additional settlement units on occupied Palestinian territory, as well as plans to relocate and demolish 12 Palestinian communities in the Yatta region, south of Hebron Governorate.
The OIC emphasized that Israel’s colonial settlement strategy is a clear attack on Palestinian rights, as well as a flagrant violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions.
The organization encouraged the international community, notably the UN Security Council, to take responsibility for executing its resolutions and halting all settlement activities in occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.
It also urged the Israeli occupying force to stop violating international law and international legitimacy resolutions and to guarantee that it is held accountable for its crimes and aggression against the Palestinian people and their sanctuaries.
As a result of the immigration of Jews to Israel following its formation, the village settlement movement in Israel grew significantly. 300 new settlement communities were constructed in the five years between 1949 and 1953.
After the 1967 war, Israel saw a fresh phase of growing rural settlements that lasted until 1979, when 79 new village settlements were built.
Since the end of the 1980s, rural settlement, in particular, has declined, with a decrease in the number of residents in all types of rural settlements, such as kibbutz, moshav, and cooperative moshav, in exchange for a large number of people shifting to industrial production, which is more profitable than providing subsidized services.