Israel Grabs 100s of Hectares of Land in West Bank

Israeli media reports say the plan is a part of Tel Aviv regime's settlement expansion projects.

Israeli military sources say about 400 hectares of land at the settlement of Gevaot in the southern city of Bethlehem are declared as Israeli land, Press TV reported.

Israeli settlement's council has welcomed the new vicious plan. The council members have expressed hope that it will pave the way for the expansion of the Gevaot settlement and for making a new city.

The Israeli NGO known as 'Peace Now' says the new plan has been unprecedented in its scope since the 1980s. Earlier, another Israeli NGO, B'Tselem, announced that Tel Aviv has seized tens of thousands of hectares of land from Palestinians in the West Bank since 1967 in order to build more than 200 settlements.

The international community regards all Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land as illegal.

This comes as international criticism is growing against Israel's settlement activities. Tel Aviv's expansionist policies have long been considered as an obstacle to the so-called peace talks between Israel and Palestine.

More than half a million Israelis live in hundreds of illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories 47 years ago.

Israel occupied and then annexed the West Bank and East al-Quds in the Six-Day War of 1967, but the move has never been recognized by the international community.

Also on Sunday, a mass rally has been held in the West Bank city of al-Bireh to celebrate Gaza’s victory in the latest Israeli war on the besieged territory. The demonstrators hailed the resistance against Israel, saying that Palestinians need to preserve unity to protect their rights.