Netanyahu and Ya'alon propose building more settlements in the occupied West Bank

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon proposed on Monday night for the government to respond to the killing of three Israeli settlers with a wave of settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the establishment of a new settlement in their memory, a senior Israeli official told Haaretz newspaper.

Ya’alon, who is in charge of running the occupying forces in Palestine, proposed building a new settlement in the south of the occupied West Bank in memory of the slain settlers, which would include hundreds of settlement units.

The new settlement would be close to the settlement bloc of Gush Etzion and afford a geographic connection between the settlements of Alon Shvut and Bitar Ellite.

Ya’alon’s proposal also includes construction tenders for thousands of new units in the already existing settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank.

Some Israeli media reported that the plan was actually decided three months ago, when the Israeli occupation confiscated 980 dunams of land and announced it as state land.

According to Haaretz, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, along with several others, strongly objected to responding only with settlement construction and demanded the inclusion of a comprehensive military operation against Hamas. Since Netanyahu reportedly wanted a unanimous decision, this led to the postponement of a vote on the new settlements.