RAMALLAH (Palestine Foundation Information Center) The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) has seized 800 dunums of Palestinian land east of Ramallah in the central West Bank, as part of a new push for settlement expansion supported by far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The announcement, made Wednesday and reported by Israeli Channel 7, declared that the annexed land is part of the so-called “Malachi Hashalom” area, under the jurisdiction of the “Binyamin” settlement bloc. Israeli officials say the move aims to strengthen “settler geographic contiguity” and “bolster settlement infrastructure.”
This land annexation comes amid mounting international pressure on Israel. Just days earlier, Britain, Canada, Australia, Norway, and New Zealand imposed sanctions on Smotrich and national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir over incitement to violence and human rights abuses against Palestinians. In response, Smotrich defiantly vowed to accelerate settlement construction.
“We are determined to continue building,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter), referring to the expansion of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
The United Nations has repeatedly condemned Israeli settlements as a violation of international law and a major obstacle to any negotiated peace based on a two-state solution. Nevertheless, the Israeli occupation government continues to expand settlements with impunity.
According to the Israeli watchdog Peace Now, there are currently 156 illegal settlements and 224 outposts across the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, with over 736,000 Jewish settlers living illegally on occupied Palestinian land.
