Strengthening Effective Control over the West Bank of the Jordan River
Biden Also Opposes During August Meeting with Israeli Prime Minister
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-woo] Military tensions in the Middle East are escalating as the Israeli government announced plans to build new Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank despite opposition from the Joe Biden administration in the United States.
According to local media including the Times of Israel on the 24th (local time), the Israeli Ministry of Construction announced in a statement that it will build more than 1,300 new Israeli settlements in Area C of the West Bank near the Jordan River. The Times of Israel reported that this settlement construction plan was originally scheduled to be approved in August but had been delayed due to strong opposition from the United States.
Earlier in August, when Prime Minister Bennett held a summit with President Biden at the White House, President Biden expressed opposition to the settlement construction. The U.S. government and political circles have continued to oppose and pressure for a halt to construction. However, Prime Minister Bennett, who leads the coalition government as the head of a far-right party in Israel, is pushing ahead with the settlement construction despite the pressure.
This area was provisionally divided into three zones?A, B, and C?under an agreement signed in 1995 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In particular, Area C of the West Bank, where the settlement construction is planned, was originally scheduled to be transferred to the Palestinian side by the end of 1998.
However, Israel continues to deploy troops in this area to strengthen its effective control while accelerating settlement construction. Currently, the Israeli government estimates that about 500,000 Israelis and 1.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank near the Jordan River.
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