Palestine Condemns Israel's Plan to Build 61 New Settlements in the West Bank

West Bank/DOK Mediterranea Saving Humans via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - Israel's plan to allocate more than 350 million US dollars to build 61 new settlements in the West Bank has once again drawn attention to settlement expansion, which has been opposed by the Palestinians.

The construction of new settlements in the West Bank by the Israeli government is one of the most sensitive issues in the two-party's protracted conflict.

Axios journalist Barak Ravid reported Thursday, June 11, that the Israeli cabinet is expected to approve funding for dozens of new settlements based on government directive documents that the journalist has reviewed.

"The Israeli cabinet, on Thursday, is expected to approve a plan to fund the establishment of 61 new settlements in the de facto occupied West Bank... A source familiar with the proposal said the government is expected to allocate more than 350 million US dollars over several years to turn the 61 newly approved settlements from mere plans on paper into reality," Ravid wrote on the X platform, as reported by ANTARA from Sputnik.

According to the report, the budget will be used to build temporary housing complexes as well as various public infrastructure. The move is said to be one of the largest settlement expansions carried out by Israel in recent decades.

Israeli settlement building in the West Bank has been a source of tension between Israel, the Palestinians, and the international community.

The Palestinian Authority considers settlement expansion as an effort to strengthen Israel's presence in the territory they claim as part of a future Palestinian state.

For Palestinians, the construction of new settlements is seen as further narrowing the living space of the local community and complicating efforts to resolve the conflict through the two-state solution that has been supported by various international parties.

International scrutiny of settlement activity has also continued to increase. At the end of May, the European Union imposed sanctions on a number of individuals and organizations involved in violations of Palestinian rights in the West Bank related to Israeli settlement activity.