Israeli Government's Decision to Build 3,000 Housing Units in the West Bank

On Tuesday, February 1, the Israeli government announced its decision to construct an additional 3,000 housing units in the West Bank. According to Israeli media, Avigdor Lieberman, the country's Defense Minister, stated that the decision for new construction has also been approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Reports indicate that the construction of 2,000 housing units will begin very soon, with another 1,000 units planned for a later phase. Mr. Lieberman said, 'The situation in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) has returned to normal.' Previously, the Israeli government had announced a plan for 2,500 units as well as a 550-unit project to strengthen settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. This issue has sparked opposition reactions worldwide, but according to Israeli media, the Donald Trump administration has apparently shown leniency towards these actions. The three plans for the construction of over 6,000 housing units come at a time when the UN Security Council had called on Israel to cease these actions last month. The previous US administration allowed Samantha Power, the then US ambassador to the UN, to abstain from vetoing a draft resolution condemning the construction of housing units, which enabled the passage of a Security Council resolution. Donald Trump harshly criticized the Obama administration's actions on the day this resolution was issued, stating on Twitter that the situation at the UN would soon change. According to Reuters, Reince Priebus, the White House Chief of Staff, stated that the issue of settlements would also be discussed during the meeting between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu on February 15. Saeb Erekat, Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, recently stated that the Palestinian Authority is asking the International Criminal Court to initiate a case regarding Israeli settlements. Meanwhile, Palestinian media reported that the new US administration has warned the Palestinian Authority against this and has cautioned that US financial support for the UN and some of its agencies that assist Palestinians will be halted. This has not yet been confirmed or denied by the US government. Israeli military operations to evacuate several Israelis living in the settlement of Amona began on Wednesday morning, following a Supreme Court ruling for their 'evacuation.' The Israeli Supreme Court had previously ruled that several homes built by settlers in the Amona area must be evacuated because they were constructed on land seized from Palestinian families. The settlers whose homes were subject to the evacuation order had accepted the government's proposal for replacement land along with money for building similar homes after a long period of resistance. The Israeli government had given these settlers the opportunity for voluntary evacuation, but this had not yet occurred. As a result, Israeli security forces were dispatched to Amona and provided an additional 48-hour deadline for the settlers to evacuate their homes. Israeli forces had prohibited the entry of Israelis from other areas into Amona in recent days to prevent the settlers from receiving assistance to resist the evacuation, but hundreds of supporters of the settlers had already established themselves in the settlement. Israeli media reported physical violence and continued strong resistance from the settlers and their supporters against security forces throughout Wednesday. In these clashes, dozens from both sides were injured, and Israeli security forces arrested several 'anarchist' youths.