Palestinian Foreign Ministry Condemns Israeli Plan to Establish 17 New Illegal Settlements in the Occupied West Bank
Palestinian Foreign Ministry Condemns Israeli Plan to Establish 17 New Illegal Settlements in the Occupied West Bank
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine strongly condemns the Israeli occupation authorities’ announced plans to construct 17 new colonial settlements in the occupied West Bank over the next five years. The Ministry regards this blatant attempt to expand and tighten Israeli control over Palestinian land as the latest in a long-running series of apartheid, settlement, annexation, and Judaization policies that undermine the rights of the Palestinian people, keep the region in a state of volatility, and erode all prospects for peace and stability.
The Ministry views these unilateral steps not merely as further settlement expansion, but as a new phase in a systematic process to undermine the realisation of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and to weaken the presence of Palestinians in their homeland. The announced plan includes an unprecedented influx of funding into expanding illegal settlements, constructing new bypass road networks, and seizing Palestinian land for the benefit of the Israeli settlement project, all while settler violence and terrorism escalate across the occupied West Bank. The aim is clear: to use all available resources to impose an unlawful reality by force and terror, exterminate and displace our people, and target their presence and livelihoods.
This amounts to a formal declaration of the commission of a war crime.
The Ministry underscores the urgent need for swift and effective Arab, Islamic, and international action capable of curbing these aggressive policies by pressuring the extremist Israeli occupation government through all diplomatic, economic, and political means; ending practices that threaten the security and stability of the entire region; and safeguarding the remaining prospects of achieving a just and comprehensive peace.
The Ministry also stresses the importance of the guarantees provided by US President Donald Trump rejecting any settlement expansion and annexation, and the need to immediately transition to the second phase of the ceasefire plan. The Ministry further underscores the necessity of accelerating efforts for early recovery and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, as an urgent humanitarian and political responsibility that cannot tolerate any further delay.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry affirms that the Palestinian people will remain steadfast on their land, holding firm to their rights to freedom and independence, no matter how Israel’s attempts at land confiscation and erasure escalate. It further stresses that all unlawful unilateral measures taken by the Israeli occupation will not change the reality of Palestinian existence nor grant the occupation any legitimacy. Instead, they will only deepen Israel’s isolation from its regional context and from the world at large.
It is also vital to note in this context the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which reaffirmed that Israel’s occupation and presence in Palestine is unlawful and must end without delay, and further demanded the evacuation of all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory.