Approval of Smotrych Regarding the Division of Eastern Jerusalem and the Western Bank

• Smotrych approved the construction of settlements that divide Jerusalem and the Western Bank.
• In Israel, plans for military actions in Gaza have been suspended.
• Negotiations regarding the truce are ongoing, but Israel does not plan to participate in the negotiations.

The Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrych approved plans for settlements that divide Eastern Jerusalem from the occupied Western Bank. This step, according to his office, is intended to promote the idea of a Palestinian state.

It was not clearly understood whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports the plan to resume the suspended project E1. Palestinians and world states assert that this would lead to the division of the Western Bank into two parts and provoke inter-ethnic tension.

In a statement titled "Promotion of the Idea of a Palestinian State," Smotrych's spokesman announced that the minister will hold a press conference next Thursday to announce plans for the construction of 3,401 housing units for Israeli settlers between existing settlements on the Western Bank and Jerusalem.

Israel has frozen construction plans in this area since 2012 due to prohibitions from the United States, European Union, and other world states, which consider this project a threat to any future peace agreement with the Palestinians.

Situation in Gaza

In the middle of the Israeli airstrike, 25 people were killed, who were searching for help in Gaza, medical workers and witnesses reported. Netanyahu again closed to the so-called voluntary migration of Palestinians from the territory that has been suffering from war.

Witnesses and medical workers in Nasser and Abdi, who received the bodies, reported that people were caught on the way to points of distribution of help or during the waiting time for convoys that were heading to Gaza.

Netanyahu wants to realize the vision of Donald Trump about the relocation of a significant part of the population of Gaza due to what he calls "voluntary migration," which, according to critics, could be perceived as ethnic cleansing.

"Give them the opportunity to stay! First of all, from the zone of military actions, and also from the sector that they want," - said Netanyahu in an interview with Israeli television station i24.

Truce

Negotiations regarding the resumption of peace talks were suspended after they, as they were announced, were interrupted last month. Representatives of HAMAS and Egyptian officials met in Cairo.

Netanyahu's office reported that Israel does not plan to send its negotiating team to the negotiations in Cairo.

Plans of Israel regarding the expansion of military actions against HAMAS in parts of Gaza, which are still not controlled, have caused concerns about increasing pressure on HAMAS for achieving a truce.

Militants still hold 50 captives, taken during the attack on July 7, 2023, which marked the beginning of the war. Israel believes that nearly 20 of them are still alive, and relatives are worried that a new offensive operation may threaten their lives.

Tags: Middle East/Politics