Latest news with #Six-DayWar
Time of India
a day ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Israel announces expansion of West Bank settlements
Photo: AP Israel announced on Thursday that it would establish 22 settlements in the occupied West Bank, including legalizing outposts built without authorization. The move is likely to further strain ties with allies that have been critical of Israel's actions in Gaza. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, and the UN's top court last year called for construction to stop immediately — a ruling denounced by Israel. The announcement comes as human rights groups and anti-settlement NGOs say Israel is moving toward at least de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory. What has Israel said about the settlements? Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is himself a settler, and Defense Minister Israel Katz, who is in charge of managing the communities, made the announcement. Katz said the settlement decision "strengthens our hold on Judea and Samaria, anchors our historical right in the Land of Israel, and constitutes a crushing response to Palestinian terrorism." He added it was also "a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel." In a statement on Telegram, the right-wing Likud party of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the initiative had been led by Smotrich and Katz. Israel has already built well over 100 settlements across the territory that are home to some 500,000 settlers. What has been the reaction to the announcement? The Palestinian Authority, which administers population centers in the occupied West Bank, described the move as a "dangerous escalation." "This extremist Israeli government is trying by all means to prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state," Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told Reuters news agency. Human rights group Peace Now has said the move shows that the Israeli government has the goal of annexing the territory. "The Israeli government no longer pretends otherwise: the annexation of the occupied territories and expansion of settlements is its central goal," it said in a statement. It added that the move would "dramatically reshape the West Bank and further entrench the occupation." Earlier this month, Britain, France and Canada threatened to impose targeted sanctions if Israel continued to expand settlements. Some settlers have already been sanctioned in the past for attacking Palestinians in the West Bank. Obstacle to two-state solution Israel has pushed ahead with faster settlement construction in recent years, meaning that the 3 million Palestinians living in the territory are being relegated to ever smaller areas. This makes the prospect of establishing an independent Palestinian state even more remote. Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Six-Day War, and the Palestinians want all three territories for a future state. An international conference to be led by France and Saudi Arabia at UN headquarters in New York next month is meant to breathe new life into the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But Thursday's announcement, and recent suggestions by leading figures in the Israeli government that settlements be reestablished in the Gaza Strip, are likely to weigh against the chances of such a solution in the near future.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Israeli security Cabinet approves 22 new settlements in West Bank
Israel has approved 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich confirmed on X on Thursday. The controversial approval of the new settlements was granted at a meeting of Israel's security Cabinet, local media reported. "This is a great day for the settlement project and an important day for Israel," Smotrich wrote. Defence Minister Israel Katz described the decision as "historic," saying it is "anchoring our historic right in the Land of Israel." Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967. Today, more than 700,000 Israeli settlers live there among the 3 million Palestinians. The Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The Palestinians claim the territories as their own state, with East Jerusalem as its capital. According to information from the Israeli movement Peace Now, the approval recognizes numerous outposts that were previously illegal even from an Israeli perspective as settlements. Only nine of the 22 approved settlements are actually new, but the move marks the largest settlement expansion in decades, Peace Now said. In a statement, the group sharply criticized the government's decision, which it said would "dramatically reshape the West Bank and entrench the occupation even further." "The Israeli government no longer pretends otherwise: the annexation of the Occupied Territories and expansion of settlements is its central goal," it said. The move has also drawn criticism from abroad. Hamish Falconer, British parliamentary under-secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, wrote on X: "The UK condemns these actions. Settlements are illegal under international law, further imperil the two state solution, and do not protect Israel."
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Israel security cabinet approves 22 settlements in occupied West Bank
May 29 (UPI) -- Israel unveiled plans Thursday for the most significant expansion of its presence in the occupied West Bank in years after approving 22 new Jewish settlements. The scheme gives legal recognition to the 22 settlements, which already exist but are unofficial, said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Katz said the step would "prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel," but the Palestinian Authority and at least one anti-war group in Israel condemned the move. Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh called the Israeli government's approval of the new settlements in the occupied West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, a "dangerous escalation" that was an affront to international legitimacy and international law, including at least one U.N. Security Council Resolution. He also called on Washington to intervene to halt "Israeli tampering" with what he said had implications for the entire region. The Peace Now protest movement said the move would "dramatically reshape the West Bank and entrench the occupation even further." Israel's some 160 settlements on disputed land it has occupied for almost six decades since the 1967 Six-Day War with its Arab neighbors are illegal under international law. But Israel argues it has a legal claim on the grounds that the West Bank is fundamental to its security and for religious and historic reasons dating back to the Balfour Declaration and beyond. Calling the settlement approvals "a historic decision," Smotrich dismissed criticism of the move, saying Israel was not seizing foreign lands but reclaiming "the inheritance of our fathers." "This is a great day for settlement and an important day for the State of Israel. Through hard work and tenacious leadership, we have succeeded in creating a profound strategic change, returning the State of Israel to a path of construction, Zionism, and vision," he wrote in a post on X. "Settlement in the land of our ancestors is the protective wall of the State of Israel -- today we have taken a huge step to strengthen it. The next step - sovereignty!" said Smotrich. Katz and Smotrich's statements came hours after the governments of Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain issued a joint communique reaffirming their commitment to the implementation of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Only a "viable, contiguous Palestinian State, with internationally recognized borders, comprised of Gaza and the West Bank and with East Jerusalem as its capital, can fully satisfy the legitimate national aspirations and the needs of peace and security" of both peoples, read the dispatch issued after the representatives of the four nations met Wednesday. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Mohammed Sinwar, defiant Hamas leader who took over the terror group after the death of brother Yahya
Mohammed Sinwar, who has been killed by Israeli bombs aged 49, was the younger brother and successor of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, the Palestinian political and military organisation in the Gaza Strip. His older brother Yahya Sinwar was the architect of the appalling October 7 terrorist attack on Israel of 2023, in which more than 1,200 were killed, thousands injured and 251 abducted to Gaza. Following that Hamas attack, Israel mobilised its forces, embarking on an all-out war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to destroy the organisation, kill its leaders, and release the Israeli hostages. On October 16 2024, the Israelis killed Yahya Sinwar. Mohammed subsequently succeeded his elder brother as Hamas leader and head of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas; with that, Mohammed Sinwar became the most senior Hamas figure in the Gaza Strip. As the new leader of Hamas, Mohammed Sinwar initiated a new recruitment programme aimed at rebuilding units, many of which were destroyed by Israel in the war. He also attempted to use the hostages still in Hamas's hands to negotiate an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. In the indirect negotiations with Israel, Mohammed Sinwar has shown himself to be as stubborn as his late older sibling. 'Hamas is in a very strong position to dictate the cease-fire terms,' he wrote in a message to mediators in Doha, Qatar. And in another defiant message, he said: 'If it is not a comprehensive deal [with Israel] that ends the sufferings of all Gazans and justifies their blood and sacrifices, Hamas will continue its fight.' Mohammed Ibrahim Hassan al-Sinwar was born on September 16 1975, one of two children, in the Khan Younis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, at a time when the Strip was under Israeli rule, following its occupation in the 1967 Six-Day War. Mohammed's parents, who lived in Al-Majdal Asqalan, Palestine (now Ashkelon in Israel), became refugees in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, seeking refuge in the Gaza Strip. Sinwar grew up in Khan Younis, where he attended primary and secondary school for boys. At the age of 16, during the first intifada, the Palestinian uprising against the Israelis, Mohammed joined the Hamas movement, which called for the destruction of Israel, becoming a member of the group's military wing, the Qassam Brigades. He was arrested by the Israeli authorities because of terrorist activities and was sent to prison for nine months; upon his release, the young Sinwar upped his militaristic activities with Hamas, taking part in several deadly terror attacks against Israel. As a staunch opponent of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority, Mohammed Sinwar was also arrested by them, sent to a Palestinian jail for three years, but managed to escape from jail in 2000. In 2005, after 38 years in the Gaza Strip, the Israelis withdrew from there, which, in turn, strengthened Hamas as it enabled them to operate more easily. Subsequently, breaking its traditional secrecy, Hamas disclosed the names of seven of its top commanders in the Gaza Strip; one of them, the commander of the Khan Younis Brigade, turned out to be Mohammed Sinwar. In an interview about the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Mohammed Sinwar said: 'Inshallah, this is the beginning of the full liberation of the lands of Palestine.' In June 2006, Mohammed Sinwar masterminded a cross-border attack on an Israeli military post, capturing Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Hamas kept Shalit in captivity for five years and, following indirect negotiations with the Netanyahu government, Hamas agreed to release Shalit on October 18 2011 in exchange for 1,026 Palestinian prisoners; one of those released was a certain Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed's elder brother, the future Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip and the brain behind the October 7 attack on Israel. Seeing how Mohammed Sinwar turned into an influential figure in Hamas, the Israelis tried on several occasions to assassinate him, using snipers, missiles and bombs planted in his garden wall. After one of these failed assassination attempts, Mohammed Sinwar said: 'These assassinations cause short shocks to those who oppose the [Israeli] occupation. But if the occupation thinks that it will paralyse [us], then it is not going to happen.' He added: 'My life now is different than my previous life … [I] must adapt to a life of isolation from the outer world and find ways to fill up [my] time ... Each move must be calculated and planned … [to evade assassinations] one must be very alert at all times.' In 2014, in an attempt to stop the Israelis' efforts to kill Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas announced that he had died by Israeli fire on a residential complex: they even produced a fake photo of him covered in blood. In February 2017, his big brother Yahya Sinwar was elected leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, replacing Ismail Haniyeh, in what was seen as a victory for hardline militancy. Operating behind the scenes, a habit which earned him the nickname 'The Shadow', Mohammed Sinwar said in a rare 2022 interview with Al Jazeera, his face hidden, that most Gazans would not recognise him because he was so unknown. To maintain secrecy, he had skipped his father's funeral, and said in the interview: 'For us, shooting rockets at Tel Aviv is easier than sipping water.' Mohammed Sinwar was a close confidant of Yahya and was one of a handful of top Hamas terrorists who knew about the October 7 attack in advance. During the subsequent war, Mohammed Sinwar was one of the few who knew the whereabouts of Yahya and where he was hiding. In December 2023, two months after the outbreak of the Gaza War, the IDF released rare footage of Mohammed Sinwar, accompanied by bodyguards, and sitting in a Jeep, inspecting a Gaza tunnel; this footage showed how involved he was in the running of the war. Israel placed a $300,000 (about £223,000) bounty on any information about his whereabouts. On May 13 2025, Israeli aeroplanes dropped tons of explosives on an underground site near the European Hospital in Khan Younis, targeting a Hamas command and control facility where Israeli intelligence believed Mohammed Sinwar was staying. For some time his fate was unknown, but on May 28 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Mohammed Sinwar was dead. He was married and had three children. Mohammed Sinwar, born September 16 1975, died May 13 2025 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Israel security cabinet approves 22 settlements in occuppied West Bank
May 29 (UPI) -- Israel unveiled plans Thursday for the most significant expansion of its presence in the occupied West Bank in years after approving 22 new Jewish settlements. The scheme gives legal recognition to the 22 settlements, which already exist but are unofficial, said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Katz said the step would "prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel," but the Palestinian Authority and at least one anti-war group in Israel condemned the move. Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh called the Israeli government's approval of the new settlements in the occupied West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, a "dangerous escalation" that was an affront to international legitimacy and international law, including at least one U.N. Security Council Resolution. He also called on Washington to intervene to halt "Israeli tampering" with what he said had implications for the entire region. The Peace Now protest movement said the move would "dramatically reshape the West Bank and entrench the occupation even further." Israel's some 160 settlements on disputed land it has occupied for almost six decades since the 1967 Six-Day War with its Arab neighbors are illegal under international law. But Israel argues it has a legal claim on the grounds that the West Bank is fundamental to its security and for religious and historic reasons dating back to the Balfour Declaration and beyond. Calling the settlement approvals "a historic decision," Smotrich dismissed criticism of the move, saying Israel was not seizing foreign lands but reclaiming "the inheritance of our fathers." "This is a great day for settlement and an important day for the State of Israel. Through hard work and tenacious leadership, we have succeeded in creating a profound strategic change, returning the State of Israel to a path of construction, Zionism, and vision," he wrote in a post on X. "Settlement in the land of our ancestors is the protective wall of the State of Israel -- today we have taken a huge step to strengthen it. The next step - sovereignty!" said Smotrich. Katz and Smotrich's statements came hours after the governments of Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Spain issued a joint communique reaffirming their commitment to the implementation of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Only a "viable, contiguous Palestinian State, with internationally recognized borders, comprised of Gaza and the West Bank and with East Jerusalem as its capital, can fully satisfy the legitimate national aspirations and the needs of peace and security" of both peoples, read the dispatch issued after the representatives of the four nations met Wednesday.
