**Tensions in the West Bank: an expansion of Israeli settlements compromising peace**
The recent decision by the Israeli government to approve a large-scale expropriation of land in the occupied West Bank has raised serious concerns about the future of the region. The measure, the most significant since the 1993 Oslo Accords, was condemned by the Israeli rights group Peace Now, which monitors the illegal expansion of Israeli settlements. The IDF Civil Administration’s declaration covers an area of 1,270 hectares in the Jordan Valley near Jericho in the eastern West Bank.
Peace Now denounced this land grab, stressing that it seriously undermines the creation of a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel. The move is part of a series of similar announcements that marked this year as the most marked by confiscations of Israeli land in Palestinian territory since 1993.
Declaring land as state property is one of Israel’s main methods of asserting control over the occupied territories, to the detriment of Palestinian land rights. This strategy significantly harms prospects for peace and fuels tensions in the region. Israel’s lack of recognition of private Palestinian property is a bone of contention that hampers any hope of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Higher Planning Council announced plans to approve thousands of new housing units in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, sparking a new wave of criticism from Peace Now. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich publicly welcomed the plan, affirming the goal of countering the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
These recent developments highlight the persistence of the policy of Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, which seriously undermines prospects for peace in the region. Calls for recognition of five unauthorized Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories only increase tensions and underscore the need for international mediation to promote a just and lasting diplomatic settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The situation in the West Bank therefore remains tense, with unilateral decisions by Israel which compromise the aspirations of an independent and viable Palestinian state. It is urgent that the international community redouble its efforts to promote constructive dialogue between the parties and work towards a peaceful and lasting solution to this long-standing and complex conflict.