Israel Announces New Gaza and West Bank Settlements as EU Threatens Sanctions
Defense and finance ministers unveil plans for three Gaza outposts and $400 million in West Bank expansion ahead of October elections
Israel's defense and finance ministers announced plans this week for three new Israeli settlements in Gaza and more than $400 million in funding to expand construction in the occupied West Bank, according to The Guardian. Israel's military commander for the region said the country now controls 65% of the Gaza Strip, which The Guardian said amounts to a violation of the ceasefire deal brokered by President Trump.
The announcements come as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition races to expand control over Palestinian land before national elections scheduled for Oct. 27, when its mandate expires, The Guardian reported. The military commander for the region described violent settler outposts as his "security partners," the newspaper said.
In the West Bank's Jordan Valley, a newly built military barrier known as the "Crimson Thread" is cutting off Palestinian communities from their farmland, Al Jazeera reported.
The moves have drawn growing criticism from Europe. The European Union is urging Israel to halt settlement expansion as settlers attack Palestinian children, and pressure is building within the bloc to impose sanctions over the settlements and the violence, according to Al Jazeera.
The expansion push has coincided with continued Israeli military action beyond the Palestinian territories. Israel's military has destroyed three more schools in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese minister said, bringing to at least 20 the number of schools completely destroyed in the country's south, with about 100 more damaged, Al Jazeera reported.
— Compiled from reporting by The Guardian and Al Jazeera.