Israel will formally annex the West Bank in the “very near future—perhaps in two weeks” to kill any talk of a two-state solution and “convince some in the skeptical Arab world to reconsider financing the planned reconstruction of Gaza,” Seymour Hersh, the Pulitzer-prize winning journalist posted on his Substack, citing a “well-informed Washington official.”
The Israeli military earlier this month moved to increase its control over cultural heritage sites inside the occupied West Bank and seized land at the summit of Tel Sebastia for unspecified “military needs.”
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, posted a video of violent Israeli land-stealers—known in the U.S. media as “settlers”—brutally beating Palestinians in the West Bank with batons who had been sitting outside their homes.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s extremist finance minister, announced Friday that 1,977 acres (3.8 square miles) in the occupied West Bank is now considered “state land,” which means his fellow settlers will be able to erect buildings there.
With each passing day, it is becoming clearer that Israel’s goal in Gaza is to reoccupy the territory, and deport the 2.1 million Palestinians in the enclave, according to a report last week in The Los Angeles Times.
All in the name of security! Israelis have been expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank at record levels, which is a war crime under international law, according to Volker Turk, the UN’s high commissioner for human rights, said.
Israel continued its crackdown in the West Bank over the past few days and detained 22 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank on Friday and Saturday alone, according to Anadolu Agency.
Israel announced last week that it plans to develop over 3,000 settlements in the occupied West Bank in response to a recent deadly shooting and the 7 October Hamas attack—citing new security needs in the region.
U.S. President Joe Biden urged Israeli “settlers” in the occupied territories in Israel to stop as Israel continues to starve out and bomb Palestinians in Gaza.