Netanyahu promises to continue expanding settlements in the West Bank in the face of “a large wave of migration”

The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has promised to continue expanding settlements in the West Bank despite international criticism and has announced that this work is being carried out in the face of “a large wave of migration” to the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Netanyahu indicated during an event with settlers in Jerusalem that the expansion of the settlements is “an achievement of the Government”, before highlighting that the authorities have carried out “tremendous efforts to materialize the vision of previous generations”, according to a transcript of his words published by his office.

“We cannot ignore the numbers: 104 established and formalized communities, along with 160 farms. There are more on the way,” he maintained, while praising the role that the settlers themselves play in these efforts to “materialize the vision of the Land of Israel.”

“Many of our brothers and sisters in the world understand today that this is our land, and that there is no other,” stressed Netanyahu, who highlighted that the settlers “lay the foundations for a great wave of migration that will arrive,” without further details on the matter.

In this sense, he has shown his pride in seeing on a map the “dots” that represent the settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. “When I look at the map I see dots, dots, dots, covering everything. I know that we not only guarantee our existence in the present, but the existence of the people of Israel in the future,” he argued.

“Part of it was done during the previous US Administration – headed by Democrat Joe Biden – and part during the current Administration in the United States. It is not easy. It is never easy,” he said. “The Land of Israel is acquired through suffering. Sometimes with smiles, sometimes with disputes, but it is acquired.”

“We do not give up. We have a mission. This is our land, and it will remain ours,” said Netanyahu, who currently heads a coalition government with far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties and who will seek a new mandate in the parliamentary elections called for October 27.

The words of Israel’s prime minister come after international criticism of Israel’s plans to expand settlements in the E1 block and the increase in attacks by settlers against Palestinians.

International Law considers all settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories illegal, although the Government of Israel differentiates between those to which it has given permission and those to which it has not, which are the only ones it considers contrary to the law, despite international criticism and the pronouncements of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in this regard.

CONDEMNATION OF HAMAS

For its part, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) criticized Israel’s plans to expand settlements in the West Bank this Wednesday and stressed that this step “represents a new escalation in the fascist settlement policy, aimed at swallowing and stealing more Palestinian land and imposing a reality of annexation and forced displacement.”

“We warn about the increase in land confiscation operations, the daily depopulation of new areas in the West Bank, the deprivation of basic goods, the interruption of communications and the transformation of these areas into isolated enclaves,” said the Palestinian Islamist group, according to the newspaper ‘Filastin’.

For this reason, he has noted that “all these settlement projects will not grant the occupation any right or sovereignty over the land, nor will they provide security or stability”, while he has delved into the fact that Israel’s plans “will be shattered by the perseverance and resilience of the Palestinian people.”

“Our people, who have faced decades of occupation and aggression, will not give up their land, and the crimes and brutality of the occupation will not tear them from it or break their will,” said Hamas, which has called on the international community to “assume its responsibilities” and “not be content with simply condemning this brutal expansion of settlements.”

Hamas has stressed that the international community “must work to hold the occupation accountable, stop its settlement projects and comply with international laws and resolutions”, before calling on Palestinians in the West Bank to “strengthen all forms of resistance and activate means of confrontation” to confront Israel’s actions.