Israeli Settler Groups Prepare Plan to Seize 100 Strategic Points in West Bank's Area A

Illegal Israeli settler groups have reportedly prepared a plan to seize around 100 strategic locations in Area A of the West Bank, a territory under the administration of the Palestinian Authority according to the Oslo II Accord. The plan is said to aim at fundamentally altering the map of the occupied territories in the West Bank. Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported that the proposal includes a mechanism for deploying military forces to approximately 100 strategic points in Area A on what is referred to as execution day. The targeted locations include several major Palestinian cities that have been under the administrative and security control of the Palestinian Authority, in accordance with the 1995 Oslo II Accord. The report also mentioned that the plan has been presented to a number of ministers in the Israeli government, as well as figures close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The President of the Palestinian Anti-Wall and Settlement Committee, Muayyad Shaaban, assessed the plan as a dangerous step towards the annexation of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. According to Shaaban, the plan is not merely a settler group initiative but reflects a broader policy of the Israeli right-wing government to expand control over Palestinian territory. Responding to the report, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strong condemnation and deemed the plan a serious violation of international law. “This step is an additional development in Israeli colonial thinking and a flagrant violation of international law and signed agreements,” the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, as reported by Anadolu on Wednesday (1/7). The Palestinian government also described the plan as a systematic war crime aimed at creating new facts in the occupied Palestinian territory through the use of force. “Israel has no sovereignty over any part of the occupied Palestinian territory,” it stated. “The occupation and settlement activities in all their forms have no legitimacy and constitute a criminal plan under international law, international consensus, and UN resolutions,” the statement added. “The ongoing illegal Israeli occupation and the colonial settlement system are the root of suffering and the main reason for the absence of security and peace in the Middle East,” the statement continued. The plan reported by Israeli media was presented amid rising tensions in the West Bank, coinciding with the continued expansion of Israeli settlements which has drawn criticism from the international community for being contrary to international law.