**JERUSALEM**
Former Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has officially recognized 28 new settlements in the occupied West Bank since it came to power — the most significant expansion since 1967, according to the far-right politician.
In a lengthy post on X following a tour of settlements alongside Defense Minister Israel Katz and senior military officials, Smotrich hailed what he described as a “revolution” in settlement policy.
“Since 1967 until today, no such revolution has taken place in Judea and Samaria (West Bank),” he wrote. “The Israeli government is working to develop settlements and will not allow the rampant illegal Arab construction that has become a scourge of the state in recent decades.”
Smotrich claimed that a record number of demolitions of Palestinian structures occurred in the past year, and called for additional strategic tools must be used that will lead to the desired revolution.”
The far-right politician, who stepped down Monday amid a dispute with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, insisted that illegal settlers are not second-class citizens. “The government will insist that they be entitled to security like all Israeli citizens,” he wrote.
Israeli media described Smotrich’s resignation as a temporary procedural move, though no details were provided. Smotrich asserted that “Judea and Samaria are the cradle of our homeland, the land of the Bible, and we are here to stay.”
His statements come amid a military offensives in the occupied territories, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarem, where the army has been engaging in aggressive operations since Jan. 21.
Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank, where more than 940 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,000 injured in attacks by the army and illegal settlers since the start of the onslaught on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The International Court of Justice declared Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories illegal last July, calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
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