Israeli authorities have approved a project to build about 700 new settler units in occupied East al-Quds, irrespective of the international outcry against the Tel Aviv regime’s land grab policies in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Ir Amim, an Israeli watchdog group that tracks settlements, said in a statement on Tuesday that the regime had published its approval of the Givat Shaked settlement plan for 695 housing units on lands in the Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Safafa.
“This joins a spate of settlement advancements in East al-Quds since October 7, including several plan approvals and publication of tenders,” it said in a statement.
The regime in recent months has also stepped up demolishing the homes of Palestinians “suspected of carrying out attacks” on Israelis.
The latest approval comes as the Israeli regime and extremist settlers have stepped up violent attacks on Palestinians and settlement activities.
Israel has ramped up its aggression against Palestinians across the West Bank since October 7, when it launched a genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and thousands of others injured by Israeli settlers or troops across the occupied territory since the onset of the war.
Israel’s war to “root out” Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in the aftermath of the latter’s October 7 Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, which killed more than 23,000 civilians in the Gaza Strip, is no longer confined to the besieged territory.
While all eyes are on Gaza, the Israeli regime has been tightening its grip on the occupied West Bank, carrying out deadly attacks and raids on residential areas and hospitals.
Palestinians in the West Bank are now facing death and widespread displacement.
In the most recent indent of violence on Tuesday, Israeli forces killed three more Palestinians during a fresh raid on the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm.
The victims, all in their 20s, were killed after the regime’s troops raided their house in the Aktaba suburb of the city.
A video footage has emerged showing Israeli forces driving a military vehicle over a Palestinian victim after he was injured.
The Palestinian Red Crescent says Israeli troops prevented their vehicles from reaching the victims. They also kidnapped an injured Palestinian.
A general strike had been announced in Tulkarm on Tuesday. Another Palestinian was also shot dead by Israeli occupation forces north of Ramallah.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed some 340 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7. They have also abducted more than 4,500 Palestinians since then.
Emboldened by the US’s all-out support, Israel in recent years stepped up its illegal settlement construction activities in defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which pronounced settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds “a flagrant violation under international law.”
Much of the international community regards the Israeli settler units in the occupied lands as illegal.
