The move came days after rebels overthrew Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and weeks before Donald Trump was sworn in as U.S. president again.
Days after seizing more Syrian territory following the overthrow of Syria’s longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, the Israeli government has approved plans to increase settlements in the illegally occupied Golan Heights.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that his government had “unanimously approved” a “population development” initiative that would double Israel’s population in the occupied territories.
The new plan targets only part of the Golan Heights, which Israel has occupied since 1967. In 1981, Israel’s Knesset moved to impose Israeli law on the territory, effectively annexing it.
The plan has no connection to parts of the Syrian land that Israel occupied after the fall of the al-Assad regime a week ago. The occupied territory, which was demilitarized as part of an agreement reached after the 1973 war, also includes Mount Hermon, which overlooks the Syrian capital Damascus.
Prime Minister Netanyahu praised the plan in a statement, which provides more than 40 million shekels ($11 million) to expand the settler population.
There are already around 31,000 Israeli settlers in the Golan Heights, spread out across dozens of illegal settlements. They coexist with ethnic minorities, including the Druze, who identify primarily as Syrians.
“Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the state of Israel, which is especially important at this time,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said. “We will continue to hold onto it, continue to bloom and settle there.”
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Amman, Jordan, said the approval comes at a time Israel sees as an “opportunity”.
Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights is illegal under international law, but during his first term from 2017 to 2021, President-elect Donald Trump will make the United States the first in the world to officially recognize Israeli sovereignty over the area. country.
Trump won the US presidential election in November and is scheduled to be sworn in as president again on January 20th.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu is using this opportunity to announce further settlement operations to entrench the occupation and make it permanent,” Odeh said. “Land grabs, settlements, permanent occupation, just like he is doing in the occupied West Bank.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office announced that he discussed the situation in Syria in a phone conversation with President Trump on Saturday. He also discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
Despite the fact that Israel has launched hundreds of attacks on strongholds in Syria since rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew al-Assad and established a transitional government. Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “We have no interest in a conflict with Syria.”
He said the attack was “to deter potential threats from Syria and prevent the takeover of terrorist elements near the border.”
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia was among the first to condemn Israel’s new plan to increase the number of settlers, while accusing Israeli leaders of trying to obstruct Syria’s nascent transition.
