‘Trump’ Settlement in Occupied Golan Heights Is a Plan to Double Settlers

Construction work is underway in the Trump settlement in the occupied Golan Heights. (Getty Images)
Construction work is underway in the Trump settlement in the occupied Golan Heights. (Getty Images)
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‘Trump’ Settlement in Occupied Golan Heights Is a Plan to Double Settlers

Construction work is underway in the Trump settlement in the occupied Golan Heights. (Getty Images)
Construction work is underway in the Trump settlement in the occupied Golan Heights. (Getty Images)

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Syria’s occupied Golan Heights are strategic for his government, which is working to double the number of Jew settlers there.

The government will hold an extraordinary session in Golan in November to ratify “a national plan” for the area, the PM said.

“We are determined to double the Israeli population, establish two new settlements there, provide industrial facilities that create job opportunities and inject more investments.”

The government is providing the necessary resources to realize this vision, he stressed, adding that he will ensure his agenda is fulfilled in this regard.

The Israeli Prime Minister shed light on what is happening, east of the Golan and in Syria in general.

“We are closely following what is happening in Syria and its ties with Iran, which seeks to send its proxies and establish another army in the Golan Heights to encircle Israel.”

“We will continue to work wherever and whenever necessary, proactively and on a daily basis, in order to wind down the Iranian presence in Syria,” he warned.

Bennett further stressed that Israel’s position on the Golan Heights issue is not only related to the situation in Syria.

The “atrocities” that have been taking place there for a decade now have convinced many around the world that Israel should take over to maintain its beautiful nature rather than being turned into another battlefield.

“The Golan Heights is Israeli. Point,” he stressed.

In mid-June 2019, the “Trump Heights,” a new settlement in the occupied Golan Heights named after former president Donald Trump was unveiled, in a gesture of appreciation for his recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the territory.

Since its occupation of Golan in 1967, Israel has established a city called Katzrin and 32 other settlements, inhabited by 27,000 settlers.



Hamas Fires at Tel Aviv in First Riposte to Deadly Israel Assault

Palestinians gather around bodies outside the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza - AFP
Palestinians gather around bodies outside the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza - AFP
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Hamas Fires at Tel Aviv in First Riposte to Deadly Israel Assault

Palestinians gather around bodies outside the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza - AFP
Palestinians gather around bodies outside the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza - AFP

Hamas said it fired rockets at Israeli commercial hub Tel Aviv on Thursday in its first military response to the growing civilian death toll from Israel's resumption of air and ground operations in Gaza.

Israel said it had closed off the territory's main north-south route as troops expanded the ground operations they resumed on Wednesday.

Gaza's civil defense agency said 504 people had been killed so far in the Israeli assault, including more than 190 children. Its previous death toll was at least 470.

The armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said it fired rockets at Tel Aviv in response to Israel's "massacres" of Gaza civilians.
The Israeli army said it intercepted one projectile fired from Gaza and that two others struck an uninhabited area, AFP reportd.

After weeks of stalemate, Israel resumed its air campaign early Tuesday with a wave of deadly strikes that drew widespread condemnation.

The offensive shattered a relative calm that had pervaded in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory since a ceasefire took hold on January 19.

At the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, grieving families knelt by the bodies of their loved ones enveloped in blood-stained white shrouds.

"We want a ceasefire! We want a ceasefire!" one of them, Mohammed Hussein, told AFPTV, appealing for the international community to stop the killing.

"We are defenceless Palestinian people," he added.

On Thursday, the Israeli army banned traffic on the territory's main north-south artery.

Palestinians were seen fleeing south along Salaheddin Road near the Nusseirat refugee camp atop donkey-drawn carts piled high with belongings.

"Over the past 24 hours, Israeli soldiers have begun a targeted ground operation in the central and southern Gaza Strip in order to expand the security zone between the northern and southern parts," army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

Movement along Salaheddin Road between the north and south of the Gaza Strip is prohibited "for your safety", he said.

"Instead, travel from northern Gaza to the south is possible via the Al-Rashid coastal road," Adraee added, without spelling out whether that meant movement from south to north was banned.

Asked by AFP for clarification, the army had no immediate comment.

- 'Inhumane ordeals' -

An official from Gaza's Hamas-run interior ministry said the Israeli army had closed what it calls Netzarim Junction, on Salaheddin Road just south of Gaza City, on Wednesday evening.

The official said Israeli tanks had deployed at the junction, where the road artery crosses Israel's main supply route, "following the withdrawal of American special security forces yesterday (Wednesday) morning".

He was referring to American private security contractors deployed in February after the pullback of Israeli forces under the terms of the January ceasefire.

The first stage of the ceasefire expired early this month amid deadlock over next steps.

Israel rejected negotiations for a promised second stage, calling instead for the return of all of its remaining hostages under an extended first stage.

That would have meant delaying talks on a lasting ceasefire, and was rejected by Hamas as an attempt to renegotiate the original deal.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) on Thursday deplored "an endless unleashing of the most inhumane ordeals" on the people of Gaza since Israel resumed its military offensive.

"Israeli Forces bombardment continues from air & sea for the third day," Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X. "Under our daily watch, people in Gaza are again & again going through their worst nightmare."