Israel to Legalize 70 Ilegal Colonies in West Bank

West Bank, MINA – Israeli media reported Friday the Israeli occupation plans to legalize 70 illegal colonies for new Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Israel will allocate a large financial budget for this problem.

The Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported that Israel over the next few weeks is preparing everything to start the procedure for legalizing at least 70 settlements and illegal colony outposts, according to Palinfo.

Most are located near known settlement blocs and settlement colonies that exist in the West Bank.

According to the Israeli newspaper, the outposts are planned to join the 9 settlement blocs legalized in the West Bank last February.

These settlements will be equipped with the infrastructure of water, electricity and security protection is ensured for them.

Israel discussed this decision during a “semi-secret” meeting held in Jerusalem earlier this week, as the plan includes an unprecedented number of stray colonies.

It is described as a “young settlement”, which will be ratified by a decision of the Israeli cabinet, for which all “young settlements” will be approved.

Israeli newspapers stated some outposts and settlements will not be legalized at this time. Given what is described as a “complicated situation” due to its presence on private land and a decision regarding this matter is planned to be taken in the future.

The list of names of outposts and settlements will be published within 4 to 6 weeks. It officially becomes part of the settlement’s existing official infrastructure, while a large financial budget for it will be allocated from the current Israeli government.

Around 725,000 Jewish settlers are spread across 176 large settlement blocks and 186 outposts (squatter settlements) in the West Bank and Al-Quds.

The international community rejects the existence of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, considering them illegal, and warns against jeopardizing the chances of resolving the conflict in accordance with the principle of a two-state solution. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)