Occupied West Bank, ALRAY - Israeli authorities have approved six master plans for the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, including the construction of two new settlement neighborhoods, according to the Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission.

The decision is likely to fuel tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, and comes amid a fragile ceasefire following the recent conflict in Gaza.

Moayad Shaaban, the head of the Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission, has announced that Israeli authorities have approved the construction of 543 new settlement units in the West Bank. The approval also targets a total of 1,188 dunums of land on which the settlements will be built.

He pointed out that Israeli authorities have approved the expansion of settlements in the Ramallah and Nablus governorates. This includes a master plan aimed at building a new settlement neighborhood within the "Rahalim" settlement, consisting of 212 new settlement units across an area of 572 dunums.

Israeli authorities have given the green light to two master plans for the expansion of the "Mevo Yericho" settlement in Jericho, according to the Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission. The plans include the construction of a new settlement neighborhood with 181 units, covering an estimated area of 533 dunums. It is worth noting that "Mevo Yericho" was originally an outpost before being converted into a settlement two years ago, and has been expanding rapidly since then.

He added that there is an additional plan to expand the "Ward Jericho" settlement located on the lands of Aqabat Jaber and Nabi Musa in Jericho. The plan includes the construction of 5 new settlement units across an area of two dunums.

Shaaban emphasized that the recent approvals for settlement expansion in Jericho and the Jordan Valley are part of a larger plan to exert complete control over the lands of the eastern slopes and the Jordan Valley.

He  also highlighted that a master plan has been approved for expansion within the "Tana Amrim" settlement, located on the lands of Khirbet Zanuta in the Hebron Governorate. The plan includes the construction of 68 new settlement units across an area of 26 dunums.

The recent plans also targeted the lands of Masha villages in the Salfit governorate for the benefit of the "Etz Ephraim" settlement to build 5 settlement units on an area of ​​two dunums, and the lands of Arab al-Ta'amra in Bethlehem for the benefit of the "Nokdim" settlement to build 32 housing units on an area of ​​9 dunums.

"Israel not only evades its obligations before the countries of the world to stop settlement, but also transgresses and violates all international norms and laws that criminalized settlement, and makes this kind of permanent changes to the occupied land as the occupying power supported by international silence and double standards that are being applied in the world,” he continued.

He emphasized that Israeli occupation government is continuing with its settlement plans aimed at fragmenting the land and isolating Palestinians in small residential enclaves surrounded by large settlements connected by racist settlement roads, whose function is to control and seize the land, expel Palestinians, and disrupt their presence and lives.