New Israeli Settlement Undermines Hope for Political Solution

Arab member of Knesset, Ahmed Tibi, said that the new Israeli settlement announced by the government that in which up to half a million settlers would live undermines any hopes for a political solution of the Palestinian issue and establishing an independent Palestinian state.
Speaking exclusively to QNA, Tibi urged the international community to take responsibility to oppose to Israel's settlement expansions.
Tibi said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to announce the new settlements on the eve of Land Day and after the 28th Arab summit concluded reflects Israel's provocative policies. He added that the Israeli government continues to expand its settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank following its occupational plans and disregarding all the international codes and resolution which calls to stop the settlements.
Tibi said that any American condemnation to the settlements does not reflect their true stance but is without substance and is to stabilize the situation especially that the American-Israeli understanding seems to support horizontal settlement expansions to accommodate the rapid increase of settlers.
As Israel continues its settlement policy, Tibi said, it not only targets the Palestinian right but also enters into domestic Israeli politics within the extremist right between Netanyahu and Jewish Home party that is led by Naftali Bennett, a staunch supporter of settlement who opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Tibi noted that the Palestinians are nowhere close to a political settlement as long as Israel continues its settlement expansion policy.The Israeli government has recently approved the first new settlement in the West Bank since 1992. The decision came despite ongoing negotiations at the time with the U.S. government to limit settlement activity. However, that didn't prevent the Israeli government from approving a new settlement in the heart of the West Bank. 
The decision to build a new settlement drew condemning reactions, with the U.N. denouncing "all unilateral actions" that "threaten peace and undermine the two-state solution." In turn, the Palestinian government's spokesperson, Youssef al-Mahmoud, said the Israeli government's announcement to establish a new settlement and confiscate 977 acres in Nablus besides the announcement to build 2,000 settlement units on occupied Palestinian territories comes as part of the escalation policy that Israel has been practicing and reflects the insistence of Netanyahu's cabinet to obstruct efforts to restore the political process.
Meanwhile, Hamas movement considered the decision a clear evidence of the Israeli cabinet's rebellion against international resolutions that oppose settlement.
The Israeli occupation government had announced the new settlement despite a previous warning by the U.S. administration that any random expansion of Israeli settlements is an obstacle to peace. The U.S. administration didn't directly criticize the occupation government though for approving the new settlement. 
A White House official who declined to be identified said U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed concern regarding the issue of settlements. A few days before meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Trump said expanding settlements "may not be helpful" to Middle East peace efforts but the occupation government didn't listen to any views that might hinder its expansion projects. 
As it continues to seize Palestinian lands, Knesset passed in February the settlement regulation bill in order to circumvent the rulings of the Israeli supreme court that ordered the eviction of illegal settlements that were built on private Palestinian lands. The law is a step towards annexing parts of the West Bank and hands Israel around 800 acres of private Palestinian lands, while retroactively legitimizing 55 illegal settlement areas and nearly 4,000 settlement units. 
Israeli acts are not only rejected in the international and Arab spheres but even Israeli anti-settlement movement Peace Now said the law will not only confiscate Palestinian lands but could also undermine the two-state solution. Nearly 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements, 190,000 of which live in and around East Jerusalem. Settlements vary in terms of size from nascent settlements that comprise a small number of homes to full-fledged cities that houses tens of thousands of settlers. 
The Israeli government's settlement goals have become clear as it aims to alter the situation of Palestinian territories so as to illegally assume control over the natural resources and isolating Palestinians while also separating East Jerusalem from the rest of occupied Palestinian territories, cutting geographic interaction among residential areas, limiting the Palestinian economy's ability to survive and grow, in addition to the settlements being a threat that prevents the establishment of an independent Palestinian state or reaching a just and permanent peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. 
Despite a U.N. Security Council resolution that calls on Israel to end settlement in the occupied territories, the occupation government continues the settlement policy in flagrant violation of international law, posing a huge obstacle for the two-state solution. The U.S. decision to abstain from voting for the Security Council resolution was a cause of ire for Israel but, nevertheless, it continued to carry out its schemes to confiscate lands, change facts and disfigure the identity. 

Source: QNA