#Israel Settlements

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Prem Thakker at Zeteo:

Israeli settlers brutalized an American, beating him unconscious and blocking an ambulance from reaching him, according to the victim’s family. The young Palestinian-American was pronounced dead by the time he arrived at a hospital. Sayfollah Musallet, 20, was visiting his family in the Palestinian town of Al-Mazra'a ash-Sharqiya. His family said in a statement he was beaten "while he was protecting his family's land from settlers who were attempting to steal it." The settlers, according to the family's statement, surrounded Musallet for more than three hours, preventing paramedics from reaching him and "providing life-saving aid." The Palestinian Ministry of Health later said another young Palestinian man, Muhammad Rizq Hussein al-Shalabi, was killed in the same attack by Israeli settlers in the West Bank town of Sinjil. Al-Shalabi was shot and left bleeding for hours, Palestinian officials said. The Israeli military, which did not respond to a request for comment, is reportedly investigating the incident. The State Department said it was aware of reports of “the death of a US citizen in the West Bank” and that it “has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas.” It, however, declined further, citing “respect for the privacy of the family.”

‘Beautiful Heart’

Two of Musallet’s cousins, Fatmah Muhammad and another, granted anonymity due to safety concerns, say he had arrived in Palestine in June. Born in Florida, Musallet grew up in the town of Port Charlotte. Muhammad described Musallet as “one of those kids that everyone loves” with a “beautiful heart,” a “sweet, gentle kid, very genuine,” everyone attests as funny and bright. In Florida, he helped run a family ice cream shop, a place where his personality shone through, his family members said.

Sayfollah Musallet, a Palestinian-American, was killed and beaten by Israel settlers while visiting family in the occupied West Bank town of Al-Mazra'a ash-Sharqiya in Palestine.

See Also:

The Guardian: Israeli settlers kill American-Palestinian visiting relatives in West Bank, says family

[luffymonkey1227]

What’s Happening with the Israel and Palestine Conflict Right Now? A Progressive Perspective

The Israel and Palestine conflict has been one of the most complex and persistent geopolitical issues of the modern era, stretching back over a century. Despite the ongoing peace talks, ceasefires, and countless international interventions, the situation remains deeply entrenched in cycles of violence, displacement, and political stalemate. With the global spotlight increasingly focused on human…

[themorningnewsinformer]

Israel's West Bank Settlement Expansion: 22 New Sites Approved

Introduction On May 29, 2025, Israel approved the establishment of 22 new settlements in the occupied Israel West Bank, marking the largest such expansion in decades. Announced by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, the move legalizes unauthorized outposts and initiates construction of new Jewish communities across strategic areas, reigniting global controversy…

[kropotkindersurprise]

June 23, 2025 - Maersk, the second-largest shipping company in the world, says it will stop working with companies in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank after intense pressure from anti-occupation activists. It's a good start, but they still transport weapons parts to Israel, so the fight against Maersk continues! [video]

[hamdosana]

O Allah, safeguard me from making decisions that I may later regret. Bless me with clarity of thought and direct me toward what is best for me. Grant me the strength to trust in Your plan. Fill my heart with tranquility and protect me from choices that will bring sorrow. Ameen

[odinsblog]

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has approved the largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in over three decades, a settlement tracking group said Wednesday, a move that is likely to worsen already soaring tensions linked to the war in Gaza.

Israel’s aggressive expansion in the West Bank reflects the settler community’s strong influence in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the most religious and nationalist in the country’s history. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler himself, has turbocharged the policy of expansion, seizing new authorities over settlement development and saying he aims to solidify Israel’s hold on the territory and prevent the creation of a Palestinian state.

Authorities recently approved the appropriation of 12.7 square kilometers (nearly 5 square miles) of land in the Jordan Valley, according to a copy of the order obtained by The Associated Press. Data from Peace Now, the tracking group, indicate it was the largest single appropriation approved since the 1993 Oslo accords at the start of the peace process.

Settlement monitors said the land grab connects Israeli settlements along a key corridor bordering Jordan, a move they said undermines the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric called it “a step in the wrong direction,” adding that “the direction we want to be heading is to find a negotiated two-state solution.”

The newly seized land is in an area of the West Bank where, even before the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, settler violence was displacing communities of Palestinians. That violence has only surged since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack ignited the war in Gaza. Settlers have carried out more than 1,000 attacks on Palestinians since October in the West Bank, causing deaths and damaging property, according to the U.N.

The land seizure, which was approved late last month but only publicized on Wednesday, comes after the seizure of 8 square kilometers (roughly 3 square miles) of land in the West Bank in March and 2.6 square kilometers (1 square mile) in February.

That makes 2024 by far the peak year for Israeli land seizure in the West Bank, Peace Now said.

By declaring them state lands, the government opens them up to being leased to Israelis and prohibits private Palestinian ownership.

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[captain-casual]

Oh jfc, how evil can you get??

[alwaysbewoke]

[unbfacts]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lorenzo Tondo at The Guardian:

Israel has said it will establish 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, including the legalisation of outposts already built without government authorisation, after a security cabinet vote held in secret last week. Israel occupied the West Bank, capturing it from Jordan, in the six-day war of 1967. Since then, successive governments have tried to permanently cement Israeli control over the land, in part by declaring swathes as “state lands”, which prevents private Palestinian ownership. The motion was said to have been put forward by the far-right defence minister, Israel Katz, and finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in the West Bank settlement of Kedumim, which is considered illegal under international law. Katz said the settlement decision “strengthens our hold on Judea and Samaria”, using the biblical term for the West Bank, “anchors our historical right in the Land of Israel, and constitutes a crushing response to Palestinian terrorism”. He added it was also “a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel”. The government intends to use the 22 settlements to bolster Israel’s presence around Route 443, which connects Jerusalem and Tel Aviv via Modiin and was described by Israel Ganz, the head of the Yesha council umbrella group of West Bank Jewish municipalities, as “the most important decision since 1967”. The minister said on X: “We have made a historic decision for the development of settlements: 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria, renewing the settlement of the north of Samaria, and reinforcing the eastern axis of the State of Israel.”

Last July, Israel approved the largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in more than three decades, according to a report released by Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement watchdog. At the time, the Israeli government approved the appropriation of 12.7 sq km (nearly 5 sq miles) of land in the Jordan valley, indicating it was “the largest single appropriation approved since the 1993 Oslo accords”, referring to the start of the peace process. In a leaked recording captured by Peace Now last year, Smotrich, during a conference for his National Religious Party-Religious Zionism, disclosed that the land confiscations in 2024 surpassed previous years’ averages by approximately tenfold. He said: “This thing is mega-strategic and we are investing a lot in it. “This is something that will change the map dramatically.” In May 2023, Smotrich, who said his “life’s mission is to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state”, instructed Israeli government ministries to prepare for a further 500,000 Israeli settlers to move into the occupied West Bank.

Israel Apartheid State plans to construct 22 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

[hero-israel]

Israel announcing rapid expansion of settlements in the West Bank and they’re still a hero? Nothing they do is bad? Literally all done to block a Palestinian state being made, yet Palestinians are the bad guys.

The settlements are an obstacle to creating a Palestinian state, but ultimately a trivial and manageable one. All neighboring state invasions of Israel happened before there were any settlements; all normalizations and recognitions happened after the settlements. The fundamental core obstacle is rejection and denialism of Israel itself, and the warmongering of Palestine's "allies." Israeli or shortly-pre-Israeli governments offered 100% of Gaza and 80-95% of the West Bank to be a Palestinian state in 1937, 1947, 2000, 2001, and 2008 (and also offered 100% back to Jordan and Egypt in 1967), and the answer was always no. You have certainly heard the statement "We don't want no two-state, we want 1948." If there had ever, EVER been a Palestinian leadership that accepted the concept of an Israel neighboring a Palestine, in whatever shape or size, they would have done it by now. You should also take note of just how slow and sporadic the growth of settlements has been. In 2017, they broke ground on their first new settlement in over 20 years; now 7 years later the new settlement (Amichai) houses a whole entire 264 people. Think back to all the sources you've ever read on this. If you were sure Israel had been building settlements throughout those 20+ years, and that this was supposedly the obstacle to peace, really reconsider how much trust you put in your sources, how much they - and you - are just going along with the groupthink of what "everybody knows" about Israel.

[eretzyisrael]

Source

[kropotkindersurprise]

June 10, 2025 - Lawyers of Global Legal Action Network announced legal action in three countries, the UK, USA and Ireland, against Airbnb and Booking.com, accusing them of laundering profits from rental listings in illegal Israeli settlements. A similar lawsuit is already underway in the Netherlands. [video]/[article]

[hamdosana]

[odinsblog]

Land and Housing

As a result of decades of land confiscations and discriminatory land policies, Israeli authorities have hemmed in Palestinian towns and villages, while nurturing the growth and expansion of Jewish communities, many of which in practice exclude Palestinians. The majority of Palestinians in Israel live in these communities, while some live in “mixed cities” like Tel Aviv-Jaffa and Haifa.

Ninety-three percent of all land in Israel constitutes state land, directly controlled by the Israeli government. Israeli authorities confiscated much of this land, several million dunams, from Palestinians through several different legal instruments, as documented in a later chapter of this report. A government agency, the Israel Land Authority (ILA), manages and allocates state lands. Almost half the members of its governing body belong to the JNF, whose explicit mandate is to develop and lease land for Jews and not any other segment of the population. The fund owns 13 percent of Israel’s land, which the state is mandated to use “for the purpose of settling Jews.”

Israeli authorities have almost exclusively allocated state lands for the development and expansion of Jewish communities. Since 1948, the government has authorized the creation of more than 900 “Jewish localities” in Israel, but none for Palestinians except for a handful of government-planned townships and villages in the Negev and Galilee, created largely to concentrate previously displaced Bedouin communities. Less than 3 percent of all land in Israel falls under the jurisdiction of Palestinian municipalities, where the majority of Palestinian citizens live, according to a 2017 estimate by Israeli and Palestinian groups.

Even inside Palestinian towns and villages within Israel, Israeli authorities discriminatorily restrict the land available for residential growth. The authorities have zoned large sections of Palestinian towns and villages for “agricultural” use or as “green” areas, prohibited residential building in them, and built roads and other infrastructure projects that impede expansion. A 2003 Israeli government-commissioned report found that “many Arab towns and villages were surrounded by land designated for purposes such as security zones, Jewish regional councils, national parks and nature reserves or highways, which prevent or impede the possibility of their expansion in the future.”

While increasing focus in recent years on these issues has resulted in more state-approved residential development, they have done little to date to change the reality of hemmed-in Palestinian towns and villages. By contrast, in case studies documented by Human Rights Watch in each of Israel’s six districts, planning authorities provided sufficient land and zoning permissions to predominantly Jewish communities to facilitate their growth.

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[gastromancer]

@the.andrey.x, 25 june 2024