According to the Israeli NGO Peace Now, nine illegal settlements have appeared in the West Bank since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7.
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, the number of informal settlements and new routes for settlers has increased “unprecedented” in the occupied West Bank, argues the Israeli NGO Peace Now in a new study. According to this anti-colonization organization, nine wild colonies, or “outposts” in English, have appeared in the West Bank since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas launched on October 7 by a bloody attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement, which was followed by a vast Israeli operation in Gaza.
The West Bank, territory occupied since 1967 by the Israeli army, has experienced a sharp increase in violence since the start of the war in Gaza, but also an increase in the activities of certain settlers aimed at “marginalizing” the Palestinians there, according to Peace Now. Some 3 million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank, a territory also populated by 490,000 Israelis established in colonies deemed illegal under international law but recognized by Israel. However, illegal settlements are settlements that are both contrary to international law and illegal from the point of view of the Israeli state.
18 new routes
Besides this number “record” new wild colonies over three months, Peace Now also recorded a “record” of “18 new roads paved or authorized by settlers”. “The three months of war in Gaza are being exploited by settlers in order to create a state of affairs on the ground and thus take control of larger parts of zone C”, portion of the West Bank under Israeli civilian military control and where settlements are concentrated, underlines the NGO. Several leaders of the pro-colony movement are currently ministers in the government of Benyamin Netanyahu, which also contributes to creating “a political environment” favorable to the development of certain settlers’ projects, continues the Peace Now report.
Acts of violence by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank recorded a record in 2023, the Israeli NGO Yesh Din said this week, with the UN having also recorded 1,225 attacks by settlers on Palestinians during the year. The United States imposed sanctions in early December against dozens of settlers who are now prohibited from entering American territory. And France has “decided to take measures” against certain settlers “extremists”indicated the head of its diplomacy Catherine Colonna.