ISRAEL: Nine settlements in the occupied West Bank would be authorized by Israel following a chain of attacks in East Jerusalem, including one that killed three Israelis.
Approximately 475,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, which includes 2.8 million Palestinians as well.
West Bank settlements to be authorized
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s government also planned to submit legislation to the parliament this week to rescind the Israeli nationality of terrorists, as announced by the prime minister. These measures mostly cater to the Israeli Arabs and Palestinians who have resident status in east Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office added in a statement on Sunday that the Security Cabinet unanimously voted to authorise nine towns in Judea and Samaria in response to the horrific terrorist attacks in Jerusalem.
The statement also added that these communities had been around for a while, some for decades. On Sunday, Netanyahu stated that he wanted to “strengthen the settlements” that are currently not legal according to international law.
The settlements, according to the statement, were built without any authorisation from the Israeli government.
According to the statement, “In the next few days, the civil administration higher planning committee will meet to sanction the construction of new residential units in existing towns in Judea and Samaria.”
“In the framework of the determined struggle against terrorism, the Security Cabinet has adopted a number of new decisions,” it added.
These announcements came in the wake of Israeli-Palestinian violence whereby a Palestinian killed three Israelis that included two children, in Ramot, a Jewish Settlement neighborhood in East Jerusalem. In a raid in the northern West Bank on Sunday, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenager.
Approximately 46 Palestinians have lost lives in similar raids since the beginning of this year, including combatants and civilians, 9 civilians from Israel and one Ukrainian woman.
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