Watchdog warns of 1,100+ new units as 'Israel' expands settlements
3 Min Read
In July, an advisory opinion issued by the ICJ found that the Israeli occupation of al-Quds and the West Bank since 1967 is illegal and has resulted in settlement policies that breach international law.
-
Palestinian laborers work at the site of a new housing project in the occupied West Bank settlements of Beit El, on November 11, 2024. (AP)
The Israeli Higher Planning Council plans to authorize 1,170 additional housing units in illegal West Bank settlements, further entrenching occupation and displacement, Peace Now, an Israeli watchdog has reported.
The council will meet Wednesday to debate the approval of 1,170 additional dwelling units in four illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to the organization.
The majority of these units—756—are apparently planned for Gvaot, a settlement near the Palestinian community of Nahalin, southwest of Beit Lahm, settled by roughly 50 people. The remaining settlements are Itamar, Shaarei Tikva, and Givat Zeev.
If granted, Gvaot's extension would result in a major increase in size after the smaller deposit of 250 units was approved last year.
According to Peace Now, the expected approval would expand the settlement by twentyfold.
In July, an advisory opinion issued by the ICJ found that the Israeli occupation of al-Quds and the West Bank since 1967 is illegal and has resulted in settlement policies that breach international law.
"Israel" is "under the obligation to bring to an end its unlawful presence as rapidly as possible," the ICJ ruling read.
The court added that "Israel" was "under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers" from occupied land.
🚨🚨🚨
— Peace Now (@peacenowisrael) February 24, 2025
The Higher Planning Council will convene on Wednesday, February 26, to discuss the approval of 1,170 housing units across four settlements: Gvaot, Itamar, Shaarei Tikva, and Givat Zeev.
🧵👇🏽https://t.co/EvCzPvgymU
The Higher Planning Council has drastically accelerated settlement growth in recent months.
According to Peace Now, "Since early December 2024, the Higher Planning Council has been holding weekly meetings to advance settlement housing projects, with approvals at each session ranging from several hundred to over a thousand units."
The Israeli government and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich enacted a crucial policy adjustment in June 2023, allowing settlement permits to be accelerated.
🚨🚨🚨
— Peace Now (@peacenowisrael) February 24, 2025
The Higher Planning Council will convene on Wednesday, February 26, to discuss the approval of 1,170 housing units across four settlements: Gvaot, Itamar, Shaarei Tikva, and Givat Zeev.
🧵👇🏽https://t.co/EvCzPvgymU
Previously, all settlement development plans needed direct clearance from "Israel's" security minister, but this criteria has been repealed, allowing the council control over approving more projects.
Peace Now decried the continued expansion, accusing the Israeli occupation of making it clear "week after week, and day after day, what it envisions for our future: a future of permanent illegal occupation, apartheid, dispossession, and violence."
The organization expressed that increased settlements will not "bring security to Israelis or Palestinians—on the contrary, they will deepen the conflict, fuel violence, and push a political solution further away."
Calling the expansion "reckless", the organization urged its halt "before it is too late."
