AL-QUDS (Anadolu) – The Zionist regime’s settlement building in the occupied West Bank jumped under prime minister Naftali Bennett, according to an Israeli watchdog on Saturday.
“We can see a 62% jump in construction starts in settlements with the entry of the new cabinet, despite its promise that it would keep a status quo in everything regarding the occupation,” Peace Now, an anti-settlement group, said in a statement.
It said six new illegal outposts were built under the Bennett’s cabinet in Al-Khalil, Ariha, Bethlehem and the Jordan Valley.
“This cabinet also furthered a number of strategically lethal plans that especially harm the chance for Palestinian development and continuity, the two-state solution, and reaching a political agreement,” it added.
On Monday, Bennett and his coalition partner, foreign minister Yair Lapid, announced an agreement to dissolve the Knesset, the regime’s Parliament, and go for early elections. It will be the fifth election in three-and-a-half years.
Estimates indicate there are about 650,000 settlers living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank.
Under international law, all settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal.