Canada joins allies in condemning Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank

Canada and 13 other countries issued a articulate financial statement midweek condemning the Israeli certificate cabinet's favorable reception of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank.

“We recall that such unilateral actions, as part of a wider intensification of the settlement policies in the West Bank, not only violate international law but also risk fueling instability,” the joint statement says.

On Sunday, Israel's cabinet announced the approval of 19 more settlements, bringing the number of new settlements over the past few years to 69, according to Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has pushed an expansion agenda in the West Bank.

The approval increases the number of settlements in the West Bank by nearly 50 per cent during the current far-right government’s tenure. In 2022, there were 141 across the West Bank. Now, there are 210, according to Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group.

Settlements are widely considered illegal under international law. Smotrich’s office said the cabinet approval came on Dec. 11 and that the development had been classified until Sunday. 

On Sunday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand condemned the news in a post on X.

“The continued settlement expansion is contrary to international law and puts at risk the 20 Point Peace Plan. Clearly such action undermines the prospects for a two-state solution and the ultimate objective of Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace and security,” said Anand.

The approval comes as the U.S. Pushes Israel and Hamas to move ahead with the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which took effect Oct. 10. The U.S.-brokered plan calls for a possible “pathway” to a Palestinian state, something the settlements are aimed at preventing.

The cabinet decision included a retroactive legalization of some previously established settlement outposts or neighborhoods of existing settlements, and the creation of settlements on land where Palestinians were evacuated, Israel’s Finance Ministry said. Settlements can range in size from a single dwelling to a collection of high-rises.

The ministry said two of the settlements legalized in the latest approval are Kadim and Ganim, which were two of the four West Bank settlements dismantled in 2005, as part of Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. There have been multiple attempts to resettle them after Israel’s government in March 2023 repealed a 2005 act that evacuated the four outposts and barred Israelis from re-entering the areas.

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