Israeli Settlements Expand From West Bank to Galilee, Negev
An Israeli human rights organization, B'Tselem, describes a "liquidation project" aimed at dismantling Palestinian presence in the West Bank, which it claims has intensified under the cover of the war in Gaza. This initiative, according to B'Tselem, is integrated with the ongoing operations in Gaza to form a comprehensive plan to extend Israeli sovereignty over all of historic Palestine, circumventing demographic concerns.
The organization asserts that areas within Israel, known as '48 territories,' are central to this plan, representing the heart of historic Palestine. B'Tselem points to the establishment of "Biblical nuclei" in Palestinian coastal cities like Lod, Acre, and Jaffa in recent years, and the recent establishment of a settlement outpost on land in Majd al-Krum in the Galilee, as evidence of this strategy.
B'Tselem argues that these actions demonstrate that the Palestinian interior, including its coastal areas, the Negev, and the Galilee, remains a focal point of a colonial settlement project. This project, it contends, has not ceased since the 1948 or 1967 occupations, with ongoing land confiscation, settlement expansion, and the suppression of Palestinian existence aimed at their ultimate elimination.
The article contrasts the perceived "soft" settlement approach historically associated with kibbutz movements with the more aggressive tactics of groups like "Gush Emunim" and "Hilltop Youth" in the West Bank. It suggests that these latter groups, described as violent militias supported by the Israeli military and police, represent a new phase of settlement driven by religious Zionism, which has supplanted secular Zionism in leading the settlement endeavor.
The report details an incident at the closed yellow gate of the "Gilon" settlement in Majd al-Krum, where residents Ahmad Abu Samra and Ibrahim Khleileh were prevented from accessing their land, which had been taken over by "Hilltop Youth" settlers. The gate, previously open, was secured by police who blocked access for landowners and their supporters, mirroring similar situations in the West Bank.
B'Tselem links these events to statements by Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who allegedly vowed to replicate West Bank settlement models in the Galilee. The organization claims the Israeli police provide protection for these settlers, and the government offers legal cover, characterizing this as a state policy driven by Zionist institutions, including historical ones like Keren Kayemeth and the Jewish Agency, and newer groups like "Hilltop Youth" and "Gush Emunim."
The article cites journalist Akiva Eldar, who noted that MK Mansour Abbas, whose home is near the settlement outpost in Majd al-Krum, is aware of the law passed in January 2022 that facilitated the establishment of such outposts. This law, introduced by MK Sharon Haskel and supported by 57 Knesset members, passed with only nine opposing votes, mostly from Arab representatives.
Eldar also observes that no Zionist party candidate today echoes Yitzhak Rabin's past condemnation of the settlement movement as a "cancer" on the state's democratic fabric. While Rabin himself did not dismantle settlements in Hebron after the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, Eldar suggests that successive Israeli governments, with the exception of Rabin's second government, have nurtured this "cancer." Even Rabin's second government, Eldar claims, inadvertently aided settlement growth by providing security and legitimacy through the Oslo Accords, transforming it from a fringe movement into a dominant force.
