JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli settlers have built several new outposts in the occupied West Bank, signalling an acceleration of settlement expansion amid surging violence and in defiance of international calls to halt such projects.
The Israeli military said in a statement several outposts that had not been authorised by Israeli officials had been discovered across the West Bank since Thursday.
They would be dismantled “according to enforcement priorities”, it said, without elaborating.
Most countries deem Jewish settlements built on land Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war as illegal. Their expansion has for decades been among the most contentious issues between Israel, the international community and Palestinians, who say they undermine a viable future Palestinian state.
The Yediot Ahronot daily reported at least seven new outposts were constructed in the West Bank since Thursday with the government’s knowledge.
“We have your backs, run to the hilltops, settle the land,” said far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir during a visit to one outpost on Friday.
The new construction follows an announcement on Wednesay by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of plans for 1,000 new homes in the Eli settlement in response to a Palestinian gun attack in the area that killed four Israelis.
According to the Israeli watchdog Peace Now, Eli was built in 1984 and some 4,600 settlers reside there. Palestinians in the area say they were dispossessed of their land to allow for the settlement’s expansion over the years.
Tuesday’s shooting attack came a day after an Israeli raid on Jenin that led to an hours-long gunbattle between Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces backed by helicopter gunships. Seven Palestinians were killed and more than 90 wounded and seven Israeli personnel were also wounded.
In retaliation for the shooting, hundreds of Israeli settlers rampaged through Palestinian towns in the West Bank during the week, killing a 25-year-old Palestinian father and setting dozens of houses and cars ablaze.
Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said police arrested three people on suspicion of involvement in the rampages, which he said were a “grave incident” that the army failed to prevent.
On Friday, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights said the violence in the West Bank “risks spiralling out of control” and called on Israel to “bring its actions into line with international law”.
But Ben-Gvir called for tougher action in the West Bank.
“We must launch a military operation, bring down buildings, eliminate terrorists, not one or two but dozens and hundreds and if necessary thousands. Because, ultimately, it is the only way we will seize this place, strengthen our hold and restore security to the residents,” he said.
The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned Israel’s new settlement projects, which it said were part of its plan to de facto annex the West Bank.
Israel is “permanently closing the door to any opportunity for a political solution to the conflict,” it said.
Israel cites biblical, historical and political ties to the West Bank as its justification for claiming the land, and says construction there follows a building permit process.
Since taking office in January, Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist coalition has approved the promotion of more than 7,000 new housing units, most deep in the West Bank. It also amended a law to clear the way for settlers to return to four settlements that had previously been evacuated.
According to the United Nations, some 700,000 settlers live in 279 settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, up from 520,000 in 2012.
(Reporting by Henriette Chacar; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
