The Palestinian Authority has issued a vehement condemnation on Wednesday over Israel’s proposed plan for an expansive settlement development in the northern region of the West Bank. The initiative aims to significantly increase the number of settlers in the area, projecting a rise from approximately 170,000 at present to an astounding one million settlers by the year 2050.
The Palestinian aspiration for the West Bank to be incorporated into an independent Palestinian state, with East al-Quds as its capital, has remained resolute. In stark contrast, Israel, which seized control of the territory in 1967 and later annexed it in a move unacknowledged by the global community, declares al-Quds as its undivided capital.
The latest cycle of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations faltered in 2014, with one of the pivotal impasses centering around Israel’s persistent unlawful expansion of settlements.
Over 600,000 Israelis inhabit more than 230 settlements erected since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.
In a separate incident, Israeli settlers launched an attack on passing Palestinian vehicles near the northern entrance of the town of Huwara, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. Although no injuries were reported from this attack, the pattern of settlers engaging in acts of violence and sabotage against Palestinians and their property has become alarmingly routine throughout the occupied territories. Acts such as price tag attacks, where Jewish extremists vandalize Palestinian properties, have further exacerbated tensions.
Despite these acts of violence, Israeli authorities rarely hold settlers accountable, leading to the majority of cases being closed due to inadequate police investigations. Settler violence manifests through arson attacks on property and mosques, stone-throwing incidents, destruction of crops and olive trees, and assaults on vulnerable households.
Recent months have witnessed an alarming escalation in attacks against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, amplifying concerns over the humanitarian situation and the need for a peaceful resolution.
