[creeping annexation] Palestine condemns Israel’s plan to build 534 new settlement units

Middle East Monitor  /  June 14, 2021

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday condemned Israel’s plan to build 534 new settlement units in the northern occupied West Bank, Anadolu reported.

“The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemns in the strongest terms the expansionist colonial settlement project, which targets the entire area south of Nablus,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that “the Israeli occupation authorities continue to steal Palestinian land, by planning to build 534 new settlement units to expand Shvut Rahil settlement”.

The ministry called for “more firm and severe reactions” to the Israeli plans.

Earlier yesterday, Ghassan Daghlas, who is responsible for the settlements file in the northern occupied West Bank, said the approval of the new settlement units will allow the settlement to grow to five times its size.

Israeli and Palestinian estimates indicate that there are about 650,000 settlers in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, who live in 164 settlements and 116 outposts.

Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.