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Israeli authorities have approved a new settlement plan on around 6,000 dunams (6 kilometers) of land in Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, a non-governmental organization said Thursday.
In a statement, the Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ) said the Gush Etzion Regional Council approved the master plan for a large-scale settlement on July 20 for the area of 6,000 dunams southwest of the illegal Tekoa settlement, south of Bethlehem.
“The plan includes the establishment of residential zones, tourism facilities, industrial and employment zones, and agricultural lands, alongside open spaces and roads within the area,” it added.
The approval comes a week after Gush Etzion regional council chief Yaron Rosenthal said last week that the government had approved the construction of six new settlements within the settlement bloc.
ARIJ explained that the Gush Etzion settlement bloc comprises around 300 illegal settlements with around 120,000 occupiers.
According to the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Israel seized around 60,000 dunams of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank in the first 1,000 days of the Gaza war since Oct. 8, 2023.
The UN has repeatedly affirmed that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law, warning that they undermine prospects for a two-state solution.
Since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, the Israeli army and occupiers have intensified attacks on Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank, killing at least 1,185 people and injuring 3,816 others, according to official Palestinian figures.
Palestinians insist on East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, based on international resolutions that do not recognize Israel’s 1967 occupation or its 1980 annexation of the city. Anadolu
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