Israel announces thousands of houses in the West Bank and UN denounces war crime

The government of Israel announced last Friday (15) the construction of 3,400 settlers in the occupied West Bank, a project celebrated by the Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich as the “burial of the idea of a Palestinian state.”

The UN High Commissioner of Human Rights reacted, classifying the measure as illegal under international law and warning that “It is a crime of war an occupying power to transfer their own civilian population to the territory they occupy”.

Smotrich said he intends to approve bids “despite decades of freezing under international pressure.” When speaking last Friday, he stated that “This reality buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to be recognized”And insisted that“They will talk about a Palestinian dream, we will build a Jewish reality”.

The project foresees 3,412 housing units, which would mean an increase of about 33% in the housing stock in Ma’ale Adumim, a settlement where approximately 38,000 Israeli settlers live. The plan had been discussed since the 1990s, but has been frozen due to external pressures, especially Washington.

Although Netanyahu has not made public statements about the case, Smotrich stated that the prime minister “supported him in all that concerns Judea and Samaria” (how Zionism refers to the Someline) and argued that Israeli sovereignty is formally applied to the West Bank.

According to human rights organizations, the implementation of the settlement would have devastating effects on Palestinians. The project would divide the West Bank into two disconnected regions (north and south), making it impossible to territorial contiguity necessary for a viable Palestinian state.

Reports of Peace Now, Ir amik and the Association for Environmental Justice indicate that the construction of houses would consume the latest land reserves between Ramallah, Jerusalem Eastern and Belém, cities that house about 1 million Palestinians. The result would be the transformation of these areas into surrounded and isolated enclaves compared to the “bantustões” of South African apartheid.

The editorial of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz This Saturday (16) warned that the measure would suffocate the three Palestinian cities and acknowledged that Smotrich “It has never been so right: if the settlement is built, it will end the chances of establishing a Palestinian state”.

Palestine’s Foreign Ministry denounced the project as part of “Crimes of Genocide, Displacement and Annexation”, as well as echoing Netanyahu’s statements about the so -called “Great Israel”.

The Palestinian Authority, through its spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said that the advancement of the settlement will deepen tensions and accused both Israel and the United States of sustaining a reality contrary to international legitimacy.

Hamas has classified the plan as “criminal and dangerous step” designed to isolate Jerusalem from the Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Belém. Already activists like Jamal Juma, from the campaign Stop the WallThey warned that the initiative consolidates an ongoing “apartheid system” since the construction of the wall and can lead to a “bloody season” of violence against Palestinian farmers.

International reactions and annexation structure

The UN denounced that the construction of settlements in occupied territory is illegal and recalled that the transfer of population of the occupying power constitutes war crime.

Germany rejected the plan and classified it as an affront to international law. Egypt accused Israel of seeking to alter geography of the region and warned that the measure threatens the stability of the Middle East.

The United States issued only a vague statement, without direct criticism, although all previous administrations since 1999 have blocked attempts to implement this settlement.

At the same time, countries such as France, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Finland, New Zealand, Portugal, Andorra and San Marino announced that they intend to recognize the Palestinian state in September at the UN General Assembly. The statement was also signed by countries that already recognize Palestine, such as Iceland, Ireland and Spain.

The advancement of occupation is part of a broader process of actual annexation of the West Bank. In March, the Israeli security office approved the construction of the road called “Fabric of Life”, exclusive to Palestinians, diverting its traffic from Highway 1 and making room for the expansion of Ma’ale Adumim.

Reports from Israeli NGOs point out that the project is added to a network of enclaves, control and agricultural settlements created since the beginning of the war in Gaza, consolidating a regime of segregation and everyday violence against Palestinian communities.

For Smotrich, Treaty-of UM Strategic Objective: “This is how you kill the Palestinian state in fact. This is how you bring a million new settlers” Haaretz He warned that by legitimizing poles, control posts and isolated stations, Israel “paves the terrain for a large -scale population transfer of the West Bank.”