Israel approves a plan to increase the number of settlers in the occupied Golan Heights News of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

This move comes days after rebel groups overthrew Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and weeks before Donald Trump assumed the presidency of the United States again.

The Israeli government approved a plan to illegally increase the number of settlers Occupied Golan Heightsdays after seizing more Syrian territory after the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the government “unanimously approved” the “demographic development” of the occupied territories, which aims to double the Israeli population there.

The new plan is only for the part of the Golan Heights that Israel has occupied since 1967. In 1981, the Israeli Knesset moved to impose Israeli law on the area, in an effective annexation.

The plan does not relate to the part of Syrian territory He took over By Israel following the overthrow of Assad a week ago. The captured area, which was demilitarized under an agreement reached after the 1973 war, includes Mount Hermon overlooking the Syrian capital, Damascus.

In a statement, Netanyahu praised the plan, which provides more than 40 million shekels ($11 million) to increase the number of settlers.

There are about 31,000 Israeli settlers spread across dozens of illegal settlements in the Golan Heights already. They live alongside minorities, including the Druze, who are mostly considered Syrian.

“Strengthening the Golan strengthens the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to cling to it, flourish it, and settle in it.”

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said in a report from Amman, Jordan, that the approval comes at what Israel considers an “opportune moment.”

While the Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights is illegal under international law, US President-elect Donald Trump, during his first term, from 2017 to 2021, 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.

Odeh said: “Netanyahu is using this moment to announce more settlement activity in order to consolidate this occupation and make it permanent.” “Just like in the occupied West Bank: land grabs, settlements, permanent occupation.”

Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s office said it had discussed the matter The situation in Syria During a phone call with Trump on Saturday. He also discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

Although Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on Syrian positions since opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham ousted Assad and moved to form a transitional government, Netanyahu said: “We have no interest in the conflict with Syria.”

He added that the attacks aim to “thwart potential threats from Syria and prevent terrorist elements from taking control near our borders.”

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia was among the first countries to condemn Israel’s new plan to increase the number of settlers, while accusing Israeli leaders of seeking to sabotage the emerging transitional phase in Syria.