Israel Pledges to Revive Evacuated West Bank Settlement
Revival of Israeli Settlements
As part of Israel's so-called disengagement policy, Sa-Nur's settlers were evacuated in 2005.
Over the past two decades, several members of Israeli settler movement have urged return to Sa-Nur and other evacuated settlements in the northern West Bank.
Smotrich stated that 'we are correcting the mistake of the expulsion' in 2005 during his visit to to Sa-Nur along with families who argued that they are preparing to live in the area.
'Even back then, we knew that … we would one day return to all the places we were driven out of,' 'That applies to Gaza, and it's even more true here,' said the far-right minister who lives in a settlement.
In a response to the visit, the Palestinian Authority strongly condemned the Israeli move and considered it as part of Israel's 'plans to entrench the gradual annexation of the West Bank, posing a direct threat to the possibility of implementing the two-state solution.'
Moreover, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry noted that the move 'to revive settlements that were evacuated 20 years ago' would result in further confiscation of Palestinian lands.
West Bank Annexation
In July, over 70 Israeli lawmakers passed a motion in the Knesset on Wednesday, calling on the government to annex the West Bank amid mounting violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
Members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition and some opposition lawmakers have supported this non-binding vote in the Knesset. However, this symbolic move has nothing to do with the Palestinian territory's legal status.
Furthermore, fifteen Israeli Cabinet Ministers from Netanyahu's Likud party have recently pushed him to immediately annex the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The lawmakers have signed a petition requesting the administration 'to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria (West Bank) before the end of the Knesset summer session,' which ends on July 27.
They also implied that the current moment is appropriate for the annexation thanks to strong US-Israeli relations and the recent military gains.
Building Jewish State
In May, Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israel planned to build a 'Jewish Israeli state' in the occupied West Bank, according to Al-Arabiya.
Katz's remarks followed Israel's announcement of the creation of 22 new settlements in the West Bank.
He also noted that the new settlements would be a clear message to French President Emmanuel Macron and his associates: they will recognize a Palestinian state on paper – but Israel will build the Jewish Israeli state here on the ground.
Related Topics:
Palestinians Protest against Settler Outpost at West Bank
UN Rights Office Reports Increasing Settler Attacks in Occupied West Bank
Saudi Arabia Spearheads Condemnation of Israeli Knesset's Motion to Annex West Bank
Short link :
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
40 minutes ago
- Arab News
Pakistan, Arab, Muslim nations condemn Netanyahu's ‘Greater Israel' remark
ISLAMABAD: Arab Gulf countries and Muslim nations, including Pakistan, have condemned statements about a 'Greater Israel' that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reported to have made in the wake of pronouncements by his far-right allies to annex Palestinian territories. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans to expand settlement building in the occupied West Bank to 'bury the idea of a Palestinian state.' Netanyahu said in a recent interview he felt 'very much' connected to the vision of 'Greater Israel,' describing it as a 'historic and spiritual mission.' The comments have triggered widespread outrage across the Arab and Muslim world in recent days and have been denounced by several nations, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt and Pakistan, as well as the Palestinian Authority. Pakistan's foreign office said the remarks showed Israel's intent to cement its occupation and disregard peace efforts, urging the international community to act swiftly to halt further regional destabilization and end crimes against Palestinians. 'Pakistan strongly condemns and rejects recent statements made by the Israeli Occupying power, alluding to the creation of so-called 'Greater Israel,' and its designs aimed at the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza,' the foreign office said in a statement. Reiterating Islamabad's long-standing position, the foreign office reaffirmed Pakistan's support for the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state of Palestine, based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. In a joint statement on Saturday, the foreign ministers of Arab and Muslim nations said the pronouncements by Netanyahu and his ministers were 'a blatant and dangerous violation' of international law. 'They also constitute a direct threat to Arab national security, to the sovereignty of states, and to regional and international peace and security,' said the statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, or SPA. The signatories include the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It also included the secretaries-general of the League of Arab States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Gulf Cooperation Council. The ministers stressed that 'while their states reaffirm their respect for international legitimacy and the Charter of the United Nations, particularly Article 2, paragraph 4, which prohibits the use of force or the threat thereof, they will adopt all policies and measures that preserve peace, in a manner that serves the interests of all states and peoples in achieving security, stability, and development, away from illusions of domination and the imposition of power by force.' The ministers pushed back against Israeli Minister Smotrich's approval of the settlement plan in the 'E1' area in the West Bank, along with his 'radical, racist' statements rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state. European nations, alarmed by the plan, have also called on the Israeli government to stop, with Germany warning that the 'E1' settlement and the expansion of Maale Adumim would further restrict the mobility of the Palestinian population in the West Bank by splitting it in half and cutting the area off from East Jerusalem. The joint statement said Israel's plan would constitute a 'blatant violation of international law and a flagrant assault on the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to realize their independent, sovereign state on the lines of 4 June 1967, with Occupied Jerusalem as its capital.' They warned Israel's blatant disregard for the rights of Palestinians and its neighbors and the international community as a whole 'directly fuel cycles of violence and conflict and undermine prospects for achieving just and comprehensive peace in the region.' The ministers 'reiterated their rejection and condemnation of Israel's crimes of aggression, genocide, and ethnic cleansing' and reaffirmed the need for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and 'ensuring unconditional humanitarian access to end the policy of systematic starvation that Israel is pursuing as a weapon of genocide.' Since Oct. 2023, Israel has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to data from Gaza's Health Ministry. In late July 2025, the ministry reported that at least 18,500 children and 9,800 women have been killed by Israel. Not contented with the almost total destruction it has caused in Gaza, Israel has also continued to block international humanitarian agencies from delivering food to starving refugees.
Saudi Gazette
13 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
31 Arab, Islamic nations condemn Netanyahu's ‘Greater Israel' remarks and settlement expansion
Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Foreign ministers from 31 Arab and Islamic countries, along with the heads of three regional organizations, issued a joint statement strongly condemning recent remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the concept of a so-called 'Greater Israel,' calling them a serious violation of international law and a threat to regional and global stability. The statement, issued following coordinated diplomatic efforts, described Netanyahu's comments as a 'flagrant and dangerous affront' to the rules of international order and a direct challenge to the sovereignty of nations and collective peace. The ministers also condemned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's approval of settlement expansion plans in the sensitive E1 area and his rejection of the establishment of a Palestinian state, calling such actions a breach of UN resolutions, particularly Security Council Resolution 2334. 'These actions represent a grave threat to the two-state solution and an illegal encroachment on the right of the Palestinian people to establish a sovereign state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,' the statement read. The signatories warned that the continued expansion of Israeli settlements, attacks on Palestinian cities and refugee camps, and violations of Muslim and Christian holy sites—particularly the Al-Aqsa Mosque—are inflaming tensions and undermining any prospects for peace. The statement reiterated total rejection of forced displacement of Palestinians under any justification and urged an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. It demanded the lifting of the blockade on the enclave and called for unfettered humanitarian access to address what the ministers described as 'deliberate starvation used as a method of genocide.' The foreign ministers affirmed that Gaza is an inseparable part of the occupied Palestinian territories and called for the Palestinian Authority to resume full governance in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem under a unified legal and political framework backed by Arab and international support. The statement urged the international community—especially permanent members of the UN Security Council, with emphasis on the United States—to uphold their legal and moral responsibilities. It called for holding Israel accountable for its actions, ensuring international protection for Palestinians, and supporting their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state. The joint statement was issued by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Gambia, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Maldives, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It was also endorsed by the Secretary-General of the Arab League, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
Arab News
14 hours ago
- Arab News
Israel's chokehold on US is beginning to loosen
Has Israel's government finally gone too far? Ever since it was founded in 1948, Israel has engaged in violence against Palestinians and used its support in America as a shield to prevent it from being punished at the UN. To ensure that America's support never wavers, pro-Israel groups have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into manipulating the American political system, influencing election results and ensuring members of Congress shy away from questioning its misconduct. But ever since Israel's government launched its war of vengeance against the Palestinians in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, its excessive violence, war crimes, genocide and even the murder of a handful of Americans have seemed to tilt the balance of support in the US. Recent polling shows that the American public has started to react to Israel's excesses, with 60 percent now opposing Tel Aviv's military action in Gaza. Israel's violence, pushed by the influence of far-right religious extremists who control the government of right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has pushed open a door of judgment that it might not be able to close. Even worse for Israel is that its excessive military response has sparked a seismic political tremor that has started to reverberate among some Republican conservatives and mainstream Democrats, who for generations could be counted on to close their eyes to Israel's extrajudicial killings, collective punishment and contempt for the international rule of law. We are starting to see the powerful chokehold that Israel has long had over American politics start to loosen. We have always seen the Democratic Party mildly slap Israel on the wrist for its violent excesses, but mainstream Democrats like Rep. Mike Quigley are now questioning Israel's military actions and even calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Israel's excessive violence, war crimes and genocide have seemed to tilt the balance of support in the US Ray Hanania We have long heard those on the far left in the Democratic Party scream and stamp their feet with no impact on American society. They have excoriated Israel's government for its hypocritical discriminatory policies against Christians and Muslims. Meanwhile, the Republicans and evangelical Christian movements have always stood by Israel, giving it a shield against any form of criminal prosecution, even when its victims have been Americans. Conservatives may have winced at Israel's abuses, but they never crossed the line to demand accountability or judgment. Until now. The tipping point came because Americans have begun to experience a weakening economy. Not only has inflation pushed the price of commodities like groceries, cars and clothing to new heights, but the costs of essentials like insurance, healthcare and property taxes have also risen dramatically. Many Americans are now struggling financially. The US also has a record national debt of more than $37 trillion, which is driving inflation and pushing the cost of products to unaffordable new heights. That economic reality is trumping America's love affair with Israel, causing many Americans to ask: 'Why?' One of the strongest voices leading the backlash is a core member of President Donald Trump's 'Make America Great Again' movement: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The Republican from Georgia has started to question why America sacrifices so much for Israel. Greene, a staunch, unapologetic champion of Trump, is the face of the new movement that is challenging Israel's dominion over America and directly challenging Israel's political powerbase in the US, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. This group has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on donations to the campaign coffers of hundreds of US politicians in order to ensure their subordination and subservience to Israel's needs and demands. Today's economic reality is trumping America's love affair with Israel, causing many Americans to ask: 'Why?' Ray Hanania Greene is demanding that America stop giving Israel foreign aid. The US sends $4 billion in aid to Israel every year and it has also provided $18 billion in military assistance for Tel Aviv's war on Gaza. She has the audacity to ask why. Why is America giving Israel so much money, which could instead be given to Americans who are suffering financially? She posted on X this week: 'AIPAC is trying to paint my America First message as 'antisemitic' because I don't want to keep sending billions to the secular government of nuclear-armed Israel.' Greene has expanded her call to end all foreign aid — a call to arms that is being embraced by other mainstream MAGA Republicans like Rep. Thomas Massie. What is happening is a political revolution being driven by a worsening economy and by Israeli arrogance. In her post this week, Green concluded: 'With $37 TRILLION in debt, I'm unapologetically America ONLY at this point. My loyalty is to the American people and my children's generation. The people I was elected to represent. NOT ANY FOREIGN COUNTRY.' The growing criticism of Israel's policies, combined with the financial pain many Americans are experiencing and the arrogance of foreign lobbyists who believe they can politically suffocate mainstream congressional antagonists, is undermining Israel's grip over the American people. The changes may look small, but with the criticisms gaining momentum, at some point they will become unstoppable. There is an American idiom often used in politics that says, 'give someone enough rope and they will hang themselves.' Israel is today tightening the noose around its own moral profligacy. • Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall political reporter and columnist. He can be reached on his personal website at X: @RayHanania
