#Israel’s current government & much of its political class view the #WestBank as the biblical & historical homeland of the Jewish people & see the #settlements as key to maintaining security.

Most of the international community views all settlements as illegal & an obstacle to peace.

#geopolitics #InternationalLaw #Netanyahu #WarCrimes #TwoStateSolution

Radical #settlers have established hundreds of additional outposts without government authorization, while still enjoying protection from the Israeli military & often other public services.

#Netanyahu’s government, the most #nationalist & #religious in #Israel’s history, has boasted of establishing over 100 new #settlements. On Thurs, as the army deployed in Qusra, members of his Cabinet celebrated the rebuilding of a settlement that had been dismantled in 2005 as part of the #Gaza withdrawal.

#Israel captured the #WestBank, along with #Gaza & east #Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war, territories the #Palestinians want for a future state.

Since then, the Israeli government has built nearly 150 #settlements that are home to well over 500,000 Jewish #settlers. Many of the settlements resemble fully developed suburbs, with apartment blocks, shopping malls, parks & industrial zones.

#geopolitics #InternationalLaw #Netanyahu #WarCrimes #TwoStateSolution