‘Israel’ built 16 new West Bank outposts within 2 years
Occupied West Bank (QNN)- The Israeli authorities have build in the last 2 years 16 new illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, meanwhile 32 unauthorized settlement outposts in the West Bank have been built since 2012, most of them founded since President Donald Trump entered office, an Israeli watchdog group said.
“Peace Now” Israeli organization mentioned in a new report that Israeli outposts were built in different areas throughout the occupied West Bank; from southern Hebron to the northern Jordan Valley, and from large illegal settlements in Bethlehem and Hebron to those in occupied Jerusalem.
The report also said that the new outposts are used for a variation of proposes; some of them are residential while others are agricultural, but they were all illegally built.
“Most of the illegal construction is carried out in an organized manner by officials and with extensive funding from the public coffers,” it said.
Peace Now said the government has retroactively authorized 15 outposts this year and seeks to approve 35 more as part of what it called a major expansion of West Bank settlements.
“Law enforcement authorities ignore the theft of the land and in effect abet this activity,” Peace Now said. “Settlers see this correctly as an incentive to build more outposts.”
Trump’s Mideast team is led by figures with close ties to the settler movement. His ambassador to Israel, for instance, recently told the New York Times that Israel has the “right” to annex some of the West Bank. Both critics and supporters of the settlements say the White House’s friendly attitude has encouraged a jump in settlement activity.
