New Update: Israel's Knesset Approves a Moratorium On West Bank Settlers

After a portion of a rule prohibiting settlers from settling in parts of the occupied West Bank that the Israeli government vacated in 2005 was overturned by parliament on Tuesday, the settlement movement in Israel cheered Entrepreneurng report.

Israel unilaterally withdrew from the Gaza Strip that year, and Jewish settlers were evicted from the Palestinian enclave and four settlements in the northern West Bank under the leadership of Ariel Sharon, a longtime settler advocate who later became a peacemaker.

Map of Israel

Israelis are now allowed to return to the West Bank settlement sites close to the city of Nablus, despite legislation from the time prohibiting their residence there. This amendment was approved by lawmakers overnight.

The legislative resolution, in particular, opens the door for the Israeli government to formally let settlers return to Homesh, the only one of the four sites where people were forcibly removed before their homes were destroyed.

Israel contests the legality of all Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territory, which are viewed as such by the majority of international countries.

In December, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the reins of one of the right-winged governments in the history of the nation.

The UN Security Council last month urged all parties “to observe calm and patience and desist from provocative acts” in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict due to an uptick in violence.

Map of Israel

In a statement released on February 20, the council stated its “strong opposition to all unilateral steps that obstruct peace, including Israeli construction and expansion of settlements, Palestinian land seizure, and the ‘legalization’ of settlement outposts.”

Homesh has become a representation of the far-right settler lobby in Israel.

In 2009, a small group of activists returned to the area and constructed a yeshiva, a Jewish seminary. The yeshiva was repeatedly evacuated by Israeli forces before the military finally allowed the activists to stay.

A classroom and dormitory made of tarpaulin fixed on wooden frames were seen there by an AFP photographer in December 2021. Israeli military personnel was manning the spot.

Map of Israel

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, himself a West Bank settler who has declared “there isn’t a Palestinian nation”, praised the parliamentary decision as “historic”.

In conclusion, the legislative action “starts to erase the stigma of expulsion” and “advances the regularization of our presence at Homesh.

Source: Punch