LONDON: Israel allocated on Tuesday a budget of 1.3 billion shekels ($434 million) to build 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich described the government’s decision to launch a new settlement drive as “historic.”
“We are strengthening the security of the State of Israel, killing the idea of establishing a terrorist state in the heart of the country, and strengthening our hold on the homeland in Judea and Samaria,” he said, using the Biblical names for the West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority said that the name “Judea and Samaria” attempts to present a facade of historical and religious legitimacy for Israel’s claim over the territory, according to Palestine News Agency.
There are already 279 settlements in the West Bank, including 14 in East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in 1967. Almost 737,000 settlers live in these settlements, among 3.43 million Palestinians.
Israeli settlement building and expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have long been condemned by many members of the UN. Some European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have described Israel’s land grab of Palestinian territory as a threat to peace and the establishment of Palestinian statehood.
