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Far-right Israeli legislator preparing bill to annex strategic Jordan Valley

Saturday, 14 January 2023 7:29 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 14 January 2023 7:54 AM ]

In this file picture, an Israeli aircraft flies over the scene of a shooting attack, in the Jordan Valley, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, September 4, 2022. (Photo by Reuters)

An Israeli legislator from the right-wing Likud political party has announced that he is working on proposing a bill to annex the strategic Jordan Valley, which comprises a third of the occupied West Bank, despite the international outcry against the Tel Aviv regime’s land expropriation and settlement expansion policies in Palestinian territories.

The bill put forward by Danny Danon, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, intends to achieve the “full application of Israeli law to all areas of the Jordan Valley,” including industrial and archaeological sites as well as main roads.

“The annexation of the Jordan Valley is a significant issue for Israel from an historical, economical as well as crucially, from a security perspective. We know that there is support for the application of Israel's sovereignty of the Jordan Valley, both in the coalition cabinet as well as in the opposition,” Danon said.

“I am optimistic that many MKs on both sides of the aisle will voice their support. There is no better time to apply sovereignty and we must join forces to do so imminently,” he added.

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Israeli forces have demolished several Palestinian-owned homes across the West Bank, and have fired tear gas at Palestinians who protested the demolition of a house in the town of Kafr al-Dik, located west of Salfit.

It remains unclear when the bill would be proposed to the Israeli parliament, or Knesset.

Israel’s parliament swore in Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister in December. He formed what many consider to be the most extremist administration in the regime’s history, including ministers living in illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Netanyahu’s hardline cabinet has made the announcement that it will put settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank at the top of its list of priorities.

About 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent Palestinian state, with East al-Quds as its capital.

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The last round of Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2014. Among the major sticking points in those negotiations was Israel’s continued settlement expansion on Palestinian territories.

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law as they are built on occupied land.

The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.

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