In Israeli Settlements, Money Is on Annexation Real Estate Boom

With its 20,500 residents, its university and its city status, the Jewish settlement of Ariel has been tipped as one of the areas likely to be included in a first wave of Israeli annexations taking advantage of US President Donald Trump's support | AFP
With its 20,500 residents, its university and its city status, the Jewish settlement of Ariel has been tipped as one of the areas likely to be included in a first wave of Israeli annexations taking advantage of US President Donald Trump's support | AFP
TT

In Israeli Settlements, Money Is on Annexation Real Estate Boom

With its 20,500 residents, its university and its city status, the Jewish settlement of Ariel has been tipped as one of the areas likely to be included in a first wave of Israeli annexations taking advantage of US President Donald Trump's support | AFP
With its 20,500 residents, its university and its city status, the Jewish settlement of Ariel has been tipped as one of the areas likely to be included in a first wave of Israeli annexations taking advantage of US President Donald Trump's support | AFP

In the Jewish settlement of Ariel, Perri Ben Senior can't wait for Israel to annex this part of the occupied West Bank, hoping it will be a boon for her real estate firm.

With its 20,500 residents, a university, and shopping centers, Ariel has been tipped as one of the settlements likely to be included in a first wave of Israeli annexations taking advantage of support from US President Donald Trump.

A controversial peace plan unveiled by Trump in January promised US backing for Israel to annex swathes of the West Bank, including Jewish settlements considered illegal under international law.

Speaking at her real estate agency, Ben Senior said she hoped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would forge ahead with implementing Trump's plan.

"It will raise the price of apartments and land because there will be more demand," she anticipated.

Elsewhere in the West Bank, other agents have seen a leap in sales since annexation began dominating headlines after the launch of the US plan.

Daniel Wach, whose real estate business is in the Eli settlement a short distance from Ariel, told AFP he has done "as much business in the past two months as the last few years".

"We closed six deals in the past 10 days in Alfei Menashe," another nearby settlement.

"The houses have been on the market for many months, so I asked the families why do you want to buy now," he said.

"They fear the prices are going to get higher because of the decision of the government" to annex the territory, he said.

- 'A normal place' -

If Israel does annex any parts of the West Bank, those areas will become subject to Israeli civilian law, rather than the military law currently in place.

"It's another reason to come to Judea and Samaria because now they are considered as normal citizens of Israel, it's a normal place now," Wach said, using the Israeli term for the West Bank.

While the details of the plan remain obscure, many assume that annexed lands will not become part of the future Palestinian state, which is also part of Trump's plan.

Currently, "people are afraid to buy in the territories because they say to themselves: 'What if tomorrow we give the territories back? Who will reimburse me? What about the house I bought?" said Ben Senior.

Since the Oslo accords of the 1990s, which were meant to lead to the formation of a Palestinian state, the population of Israeli settlements in the West Bank has more than tripled to 450,000.

In addition to those making their home in the West Bank for religious or ideological reasons, many Israelis have been drawn to the settlements by their housing costs, which are significantly lower than Israel's expensive real estate market.

- Opportunity -

Just 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) west of Alfei Menashe, on the other side of the "green line" between Israel and the West Bank, lies Kfar Saba.

There, a seven-room apartment on 200 square meters of land would cost around 4.5 million shekels ($1.3 million, 1.1 million euros), Wach said.

A similar property in Alfei Menashe would cost around half of that, he said.

"Immediately after annexation, the prices will jump around 10 to 15 percent up, and in around five, six, seven years from now, it'll go around 30 percent up, not less."

Zeev Epstein, who recorded a record number of sales last month, shares Wach's optimism.

"Annexation will make a big difference, said Epstein, whose real estate firm Harei Zahav (Hebrew for golden mountains) deals exclusively in Israeli settlements," he told AFP.

"It's gonna be a big market, we'll need to get ready, work hard for this opportunity."

While Netanyahu has yet to make any concrete annexation moves, despite being able to do so from July 1 under the US plan, Wach can already feel a certain momentum.

"When Israel decides this place is ours, the common reaction is -- ah, finally!" he said.



French Boats Set Sail to Join Gaza Aid Flotilla

Activists gather in l'Estaque, part of Marseille's harbor, southern France, on April 4, 2026, during a rally in support of a flotilla carrying activists from “Thousand Madleens to Gaza” movement as they prepare to set sail. (AFP)
Activists gather in l'Estaque, part of Marseille's harbor, southern France, on April 4, 2026, during a rally in support of a flotilla carrying activists from “Thousand Madleens to Gaza” movement as they prepare to set sail. (AFP)
TT

French Boats Set Sail to Join Gaza Aid Flotilla

Activists gather in l'Estaque, part of Marseille's harbor, southern France, on April 4, 2026, during a rally in support of a flotilla carrying activists from “Thousand Madleens to Gaza” movement as they prepare to set sail. (AFP)
Activists gather in l'Estaque, part of Marseille's harbor, southern France, on April 4, 2026, during a rally in support of a flotilla carrying activists from “Thousand Madleens to Gaza” movement as they prepare to set sail. (AFP)

Some 20 French boats set sail from Marseille on Saturday to join up with an international flotilla making a renewed effort to break an Israeli blockade and deliver aid to Gaza, AFP reporters saw.

"Gaza, Marseille is with you" shouted around a thousand people who had come to the docks to support the initiative.

The ships, mostly sailboats, set off to a round of applause and songs shortly after 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) to join the "Global Sumud Flotilla", named after a Gazan fisherman.

The international flotilla of some 100 boats, mostly setting sail from Barcelona on April 12, will head towards Gaza around April 20, according to the organizers. A week-long stopover is planned in southern Italy for "non-violence training."

"The goal is to give Palestine more visibility. We're not talking about it much right now, because of the international context," said Manon, a crew member who declined to give her full name.

In late 2025, an initial flotilla of about 50 boats, composed of political figures and activists such as Sweden's Greta Thunberg, was boarded by the Israeli navy -- illegally according to the organizers and Amnesty International.

The crew members were arrested and expelled by Israel.

The Gaza Strip, governed by Hamas, has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007. Israel and the Palestinian movement accuse each other of violating a ceasefire that came into effect on October 10, 2025, after two years of war.


Tens of Thousands of Sadr Supporters Rally in Baghdad Against War

Followers of Iraq's Moqtada al-Sadr wave Iraqi national flags during a protest against the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, as they gather in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq, 04 April 2026. (EPA)
Followers of Iraq's Moqtada al-Sadr wave Iraqi national flags during a protest against the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, as they gather in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq, 04 April 2026. (EPA)
TT

Tens of Thousands of Sadr Supporters Rally in Baghdad Against War

Followers of Iraq's Moqtada al-Sadr wave Iraqi national flags during a protest against the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, as they gather in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq, 04 April 2026. (EPA)
Followers of Iraq's Moqtada al-Sadr wave Iraqi national flags during a protest against the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, as they gather in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq, 04 April 2026. (EPA)

Tens of thousands of supporters of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr rallied in Baghdad and across the country on Saturday, condemning Israel and the United States and demanding an end to the war.

The massive crowds came as the Middle East war was due to enter its sixth week after strikes launched by the US and Israel against Iran on February 28.

Iraq has been unwillingly drawn into the conflict, with strikes targeting US interests on its soil as well as attacks against pro-Iran groups in the country.

Tens of thousands of men and some women packed into the streets around Baghdad's central Tahrir Square on Saturday, waving the national flag and chanting: "No, no to Israel" and "No, no to America".

"What America and Israel are doing in their aggression against the countries of the region is not a war of a military nature, but a senseless war," Dhirgham Samir, attending the rally, told AFP.

"Today's demonstration is an expression of rejection of aggression, arrogance, and injustice throughout the world, not just in Iraq," he said.

Samir, who was in his forties, added that "this is a senseless war, targeting civilians".

Across the region since the onset of war thousands have been killed.

In a statement, Sadr called for peaceful demonstrations "to condemn the Zionist-American aggression and to establish peace in the region".

Under the giant Freedom Monument, commemorating Iraq's declaration of independence, demonstrators also railed against what they said was US and Israeli meddling in the region.

"They violate the rights of all the peoples of the region first, and then the world," cleric Ali Al-Fartousi told AFP.

"Humanity must speak out against these people and stop them," he said, adding: "The time has come for the entire world to stand united against global Zionist-American arrogance."

Sadr retains a devoted following of millions among Iraq's majority Shiite population, and has previously mobilized huge crowds.

As well as popular support, Sadr also has representatives among Iraqi ministries and official institutions, despite opposing several governments over the years.


Israeli Forces Destroy 17 UN Peacekeeper Cameras in South Lebanon

A dog lies an empty road outside a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)
A dog lies an empty road outside a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)
TT

Israeli Forces Destroy 17 UN Peacekeeper Cameras in South Lebanon

A dog lies an empty road outside a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)
A dog lies an empty road outside a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli forces destroyed 17 surveillance cameras linked to the United Nations peacekeepers' main headquarters in southern Lebanon in 24 hours, a UN security official told AFP on Saturday.

Since the start of the Israel-Hezbollah war on March 2, the UN force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been caught in the crossfire in the country's south, with Hezbollah launching attacks on Israel and its troops, and Israeli forces pushing into border towns.

The official, who requested anonymity, said "17 of our headquarters' cameras have been destroyed by the Israeli army" in the coastal town of Naqoura.

On Thursday, UNIFIL spokeswoman Kandice Ardiel told AFP peacekeepers had seen "Israeli soldiers conducting demolitions of large parts" of Naqoura since the start of the week.

"Not only have these demolitions destroyed civilian homes and businesses, but the strength of the blasts have caused damage to UNIFIL's headquarters," she added.

Three Indonesian peacekeepers from the UN force have been killed in two separate incidents over the past week.

UNIFIL also reported Friday an "explosion" in one of its bases near Adaisseh in south Lebanon that wounded three personnel, adding that they "do not yet know the origin of the explosion".

The Israeli army accused Hezbollah of firing " a rocket that landed in a UNIFIL outpost".

The UN office in Jakarta said on Saturday the wounded were Indonesian.

Indonesia condemned the incident as "unacceptable", saying "these events underscore the urgent need to strengthen protection for UN peacekeeping forces amid an increasingly dangerous conflict situation".

According to the UN, 97 force members have been killed in violence since its establishment in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon.

"This has been a difficult week for peacekeepers working near the central part of UNIFIL's area of operations," Ardiel said in her statement.

She added that UNIFIL "reminds all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of peacekeepers, including by avoiding combat activities nearby that could put them in danger".