Israel today announced plans to build a new Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.
This was said by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and the media reported that it will be the first new Jewish settlement in that territory since 2017 and that it will occupy an area of 148 hectares.
The construction of the new settlement was announced a day before the planned new talks on a cease-fire in Gaza, which are considered key to preventing a regional war, agencies report.
The ultra-rightist Smotrich said that the construction of settlements is a response to the actions of the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank and countries that have recognized the Palestinian state.
"Not a single anti-Israeli or anti-Zionist decision will stop the development of settlements. We will continue to fight against the dangerous idea of a Palestinian state. That is my life's mission," Smotrich said.
Most UN members consider the Jewish settlements built in the West Bank and other territories conquered by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967 to be illegal under international law.
Israel disputes this by citing the Jewish people's historical and biblical ties to the land.
In June, that country announced the legalization of five illegal settlements in the West Bank, the establishment of three new settlements and the appropriation of large swathes of land on which Palestinians seek to establish an independent Palestine, which only increased their anger.
The Israeli left-wing organization Peace Now, which leads the anti-settlement campaign, has assessed that the plans for a new settlement aim to prevent Palestinian territorial continuity and represent another step in what it says is the de facto annexation of the West Bank.
It was also stated that the new settlement will be built on land that belongs to ancient agricultural terraces that are on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
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