Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to designate 13 Jewish settlements in the West Bank as independent entities, separating them from their parent communities, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Sunday.
The move follows recent approvals for tens of thousands of new housing units across the region and comes amid heightened security concerns following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack.
Smotrich, posting on X, hailed the decision as a step toward “actual sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” the term Israel uses for the West Bank. “We continue to lead a revolution of normalisation and regulation in the settlements. Instead of hiding and apologising – we raise the flag, build and settle,” he said, arguing that recognizing each settlement as independent will resolve longstanding management challenges.
The decision has deepened tensions in a region already marked by conflict. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the separation as a disregard for international legitimacy and resolutions. Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza, denounced the move as a “desperate attempt to impose realities on the ground and consolidate colonial occupation on Palestinian lands.”
Israeli officials have cited security concerns as a key factor in the decision. In recent weeks, Israel has intensified counter-terrorism operations in the West Bank, targeting suspected militants in response to fears of further attacks similar to those on October 7, 2023.
Around 700,000 Israeli settlers now live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem—territory captured by Israel in 1967 during the six-day war. While most of the international community considers these settlements illegal under international law, Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land.
The move has been welcomed by pro-settler politicians, with Smotrich—a prominent figure in the far-right Religious Zionism party and a key coalition partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—asserting that the new status will facilitate the settlements’ growth and development. Critics, however, warn that such unilateral actions could further complicate the already fraught prospects for a lasting peace in the region.
Hopes for a Ukraine ceasefire have buoyed bond prices, but investors remain sceptical that Friday’s Trump–Putin summit will yield major breakthrou...
The Trump administration is considering a refugee cap of around 40,000 for the coming year, with the majority of spots reportedly allocated to white S...
The South Korean government has voiced “deep disappointment and regret” over visits by Japanese officials to a controversial war shrine in Tokyo, ...
Nesting dolls and T-shirts showing Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are selling fast in Moscow souvenir shops ahead of the leaders’ first meeting sin...
China has called on Cambodia and Thailand to step up efforts to bring about the swift restoration of peace along their shared border, according to a s...
The Scottish National Party (SNP) urged the UK government to immediately recognise a Palestinian state after Israel’s far-right finance minister announced plans to expand settlements in the West Bank, undermining the prospect of a two-state solution.
Former Israeli Air Force pilots and activists protested in Tel Aviv yesterday (12 August), demanding an end to the war in Gaza and the release of the remaining hostages. In a separate rally, demonstrators targeted an aid group they accuse of worsening Gaza’s hunger crisis.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu had “lost the plot.” He made the comment on Wednesday (August 13) as Wellington considers whether to recognise Palestinian state.
Norway's $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund said on Monday it is terminating contracts with asset managers handling its Israeli investments and has divested parts of its portfolio in the country over the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
The world’s biggest dance music festival faces an unexpected setback as a fire destroys its main stage, prompting a last-minute response from organisers determined to keep the party alive in Boom, Belgium.
A powerful eruption at Japan’s Shinmoedake volcano sent an ash plume more than 3,000 metres high on Sunday morning, prompting safety warnings from authorities.
According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the Oaxaca region of Mexico on Saturday.
A resumption of Iraq’s Kurdish oil exports is not expected in the near term, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, despite an announcement by Iraq’s federal government a day earlier stating that shipments would resume immediately.
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 56 kilometres east of Gorgan in northern Iran early Sunday morning, according to preliminary seismic data.
Applied Materials warned of declining visibility and heightened uncertainty for the semiconductor sector, as U.S. export restrictions and shifting trade policies weigh on Chinese demand.
China’s factory output and retail sales growth slowed sharply in July, adding pressure on Beijing to deploy further stimulus as the $19 trillion economy faces weakening domestic demand and external shocks.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan defended the U.S.-brokered peace accord, saying it's “not a zero-sum game” and a step toward regional cooperation benefiting all, including Russia and Iran.
In a Fox News interview, President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan’s transit deal with Armenia is “not against anyone” and marks the “final step toward peace,” while also addressing the 2024 downing of AZAL Flight 8243, demanding accountability and full compensation.
On 14 August, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov spoke by phone with his Kazakh counterpart, Murat Nurtleu.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment