The move comes days after rebel groups overthrew Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and weeks before Trump becomes US president again.
Israel expands colonization in the occupied Golan as Syria tries to rebuild itself and Trump prepares to resume the US presidency.
Israel’s government approved a plan to increase the number of settlers in the illegally occupied Golan Heights, days after seizing more Syrian territory following the fall of Syria’s longtime leader Bashar al-Assad.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reported that the government “unanimously” approved the “demographic development” of the occupied territory, with the aim of doubling the Israeli population in the region.
The new plan covers only the part of the Golan Heights that Israel has occupied since 1967. In 1981, the Knesset imposed Israeli law on the territory, in a de facto annexation.
The plan does not include the Syrian area captured by Israel after the fall of al-Assad last week. This region, demilitarized by an agreement signed after the 1973 war, includes Mount Hermon, which offers a strategic view over Damascus, the Syrian capital.
In a statement, Netanyahu praised the plan, which allocates more than 40 million shekels ($11 million) to increase the settler population in the area. Currently, around 31,000 Israeli settlers live in dozens of illegal settlements in the Golan Heights, alongside minority groups including the Druze, who mostly identify as Syrians.
“Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel, and this is especially important at this time,” said Netanyahu. “We will continue to maintain it, make it flourish and populate it.”
Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said the approval comes at a time that Israel considers “opportune.”
Although Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights is illegal under international law, during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021, US President-elect Donald Trump made the United States the first country in the world to officially recognize Israeli sovereignty over the region.
Trump is scheduled to take office again on January 20 after winning the US presidential election in November.
“Netanyahu is taking this moment to announce more settlement activities, with the aim of consolidating this occupation and making it permanent,” Odeh said. “Just like he does in the occupied West Bank: confiscation of land, settlements, permanent occupation.”
Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s office said he discussed the situation in Syria in a phone call with Trump on Saturday. Efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza were also discussed.
Although Israel has launched hundreds of attacks against Syrian targets since opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted Bashar al-Assad and moved to form a transitional government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared: “No we have an interest in conflict with Syria.”
Netanyahu said the strikes aim to “neutralize potential threats from Syria and prevent a takeover by terrorist elements close to our border.”
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia was among the first to condemn Israel’s new plan to increase the number of settlers, accusing Israeli leaders of trying to sabotage Syria’s fledgling transition.
With information from Al Jazeera*
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2024/12/16/israel-aprova-plano-para-aumentar-colonos-nas-colinas-de-gola/
