JERUSALEM: According to Israel’s far-right finance minister, a new settlement has been allowed on a Unesco World Heritage Site close to Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.
A design for the new Nahal Heletz settlement in Gush Etzion, a group of colonies south of Jerusalem, has been issued, according to Bezalel Smotrich, head of civil affairs at the defense ministry.
International law regards all of Israel’s settlements in the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967, as unlawful, even if it has clearance from Israeli planners.
Smotrich, a settler, said on X that “no anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist decision will stop the development of settlements.” “By establishing facts on the ground, we will continue to fight against the perilous project of creating a Palestinian state.”
A “wholesale attack” on a region “renowned for its ancient terraces and sophisticated irrigation systems, evidence of thousands of years of human activity,” is how the Israeli anti-settlement organization Peace Now described the plan.
The approval also occurs at a time when the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip, which has been raging since October 7, is causing tensions to flare up throughout the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Numerous unauthorized settlements have emerged in the West Bank over time.
About 3 million Palestinians and 490,000 Israeli settlers currently reside in the region, excluding east Jerusalem. The far-right factions inside Israel’s ruling coalition have advocated for a quicker pace of settlement growth.
The new settlement was approved the day after another hardliner, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, garnered international criticism for joining thousands of Jews in prayer at the forbidden Jewish worship site, the Al Aqsa mosque compound in annexed east Jerusalem.
The Nahal Heletz settlement is located south of Jerusalem, between Gush Etzion and the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. It was given preliminary approval in June along with four other settlements.
According to Peace Now, it will line the buildings in the Palestinian village of Battir, which is recognized as a World Heritage Site due to its vineyards, olive trees, and terraced agricultural terraces.
