JERUSALEM: The Israeli government has budgeted millions of dollars to safeguard little, illicit Israeli farms in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, underwriting small troops meant to develop into full-fledged towns, according to an anti-settlement tracking party.
Peace Then has found evidence that Israel’s pro-settler authorities has secretly poured money into the illicit settlements, which are independent of its more than 100 legally recognized settlements. Some of those troops have been linked to pioneer hostility against Palestinians and are under US control.
Palestinians and the global community claim that any towns are unlawful or unlawful, which undermines efforts to create a two-state option.
The Ministry of Communities and National Mission, which is headed by a far-right resident leader, confirmed it budgeted 75 million pounds ($ 20.5 million ) last year for security technology for “young towns”- the term it uses for illicit Israeli farms and troops in the West Bank. While the government’s focus remained on the Hamas-affiliated conflict in Gaza, the money was slowly authorized in December.
Peace Then said the money have been used for automobiles, drones, cameras, generators, energy gates, fences and fresh roads that reach some of the more rural farms.
The party estimates about 500 people live on the smaller, illicit fields and 25, 000 more lived in larger troops. Those troops, while not actually authorized by the authorities, generally receive tacit support before they are retrospectively legalized.
Hagit Ofran, chairman of Peace Here’s” settlement view” plan, said the funding was the first time the Israeli government has channeled money to the outposts but boldly.
Rights groups claim that the expanding network of distant farms atop West Bank hilltops is one of the major causes of Palestinian violence and displacement.
Israel’s state legalized five previously unapproved settlements in the past month only, and it also authorized the largest land get in the West Bank in three decades, declaring a sizable portion of the country express territory in preparing for new construction.
Since Hamas ‘ Oct. 7 attack, which sparked Israel’s conflict with the militant group in the Gaza Strip, violence by those associated with these farms has soared, according to Palestinians.
The highest UN court on Friday stated that Israel’s presence in the Palestinian territories was unlawful and demanded that settlement construction be put an immediate stop. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly denounced the non-binding statement, claiming that the territories are a remnant of the Jewish people’s historical homeland.
In the 1967 Mideast war, Israel seized the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and Gaza, which the Palestinians claimed as their future states. It has settled over 500, 000 Jews in the West Bank, most of whom live on authorized settlements, in addition to over 200, 000 others in contested east Jerusalem, which it claims as part of its capital.
Netanyahu’s far-right government is dominated by West Bank settlers and pro-settler politicians. Netanyahu has placed his finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, in a new position inside the Defense Ministry overseeing settlement construction and development.
13 hard-line Israeli settlers have been subject to international sanctions by the United States, Britain, and the European Union after allegations of attacks and harassment against Palestinians. Some of the settlers are connected to the outpost farms, as well as two affiliated outposts, and four groups. The measures are intended as a deterrent, and they expose people to travel and visa restrictions and asset freezes, even though the freezes have been less successful.
The Defense Ministry and the Minister of Settlements and National Mission, Orit Strock, said the funds were coordinated with the Defense Ministry and” carried out in accordance with all laws.” It added that Strock, herself a longtime settler leader,” sees great importance in strengthening settlements” despite international condemnation.
Prior to the sanctions, the budget was approved in December. It’s unclear if the sanctioned farms and outposts are included in the list of the farms and outposts that received funding because the government did not publish a list of them. However, it’s likely that at least some of them are because Ofran said that the budget supported 68 of the nearly 70 farms. Since then, the number of farms has increased to more than 90.
Peace Now reported that it was informed of the funding decision from recordings and presentations made at the pro-settler Religious Zionism Party’s monthly conference at the” Shaharit Farm” outpost in the northern West Bank. Strock and Smotrich were in attendance.
President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have both expressed concern about the recent rise in Israelite violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. In a recent retirement speech, Israel’s former top general in the West Bank expressed similar concerns.
Israel has stated that it is preventing these attacks and that the sanctions are not warranted.
