Netanyahu government allocates 40 million shekels to double the number of settlers in the occupied Golan

While the machines of the Israeli occupation army are nibbling away at more Syrian territory, exploiting the effects of the fall of the Assad regime and the country’s preoccupation with formulating its new future, the Israeli government unanimously approved a budget of 40 million shekels today, Sunday, to implement a plan aimed at “encouraging demographic development” in the settlements of the occupied Golan.

In a statement issued by the office of the Prime Minister of the occupation, Benjamin Netanyahu, he pointed out that "in light of the war, the new front opposite Syria, and based on the desire to double the population of the Golan, the Prime Minister today submitted his final approval for an initial correction to a plan aimed at encouraging demographic development in the settlements of the Golan and Katzrin."

According to the statement, "The decision strengthens the Golan settlements in various fields, including education, renewable energy, the establishment of a student village, and an organizational development project that will help the Golan Regional Council absorb the new settlers who will arrive successively." Commenting on the approval, Netanyahu claimed that "strengthening the Golan means strengthening the State of Israel, and this is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold on to the Golan, and work to make it prosperous and settle there."

Not far away, the government is expected to allocate NIS 111 million to provide an initial response to rehabilitate northern settlements. According to a statement issued by the Minister of Settlement and National Missions, Orit Struck, the aforementioned amount will be allocated to rehabilitate 41 rural settlements adjacent to the border. The goal is to provide initial and immediate assistance to rehabilitate public infrastructure in each settlement, and to prepare each one of them to receive those who were evacuated from their homes about a year and two months ago, during the war in Lebanon.

Last Monday, Netanyahu confirmed that the part of the Syrian Golan Heights occupied and annexed by his country would remain Israeli “forever.” A day earlier, Netanyahu announced the end of the 1974 “disengagement” agreement with Syria regarding the Golan. He ordered the army to “seize” the buffer zone where UN forces are deployed.

Since the first moments of the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, the occupying state has intensified its attacks on several sites in Syria, and completed the occupation of Mount Hermon and Syrian lands extending over vast areas, claiming that these are temporary steps, and within the framework of defensive measures after the fall of the regime, exploiting the absence of the army in Syria and the transitional period in which the country needs to organize its affairs. The occupying state may exploit this in future negotiations, in an attempt to impose conditions that guarantee the relative calm it has become accustomed to on the Syrian front.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia condemn decision to expand settlements in Golan

In the same context, Qatar confirmed, on Sunday evening, that the approval of the Benjamin Netanyahu government of a plan to expand settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights represents a new Israeli aggression on Syrian territory. Doha condemned, in a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, quoted by "Anadolu", "the Israeli occupation government's approval of a plan to expand Israeli settlements in the occupied Golan Heights."

The ratification was considered "a new link in the chain of Israeli attacks on Syrian territory, and a flagrant violation of international law." It stressed "the need for the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities to compel the Israeli occupation to stop attacks on Syrian territory, comply with international legitimacy resolutions, and show solidarity to confront its opportunistic plans."

The Qatari Foreign Ministry reiterated Qatar's "firm position in support of Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity." It expressed its "support for all regional and international efforts aimed at establishing security and stability in Syria and achieving the aspirations of its people."

For its part, Saudi Arabia condemned, on Sunday, the decision of the Netanyahu government to expand settlements in the occupied Golan Heights, and to continue to sabotage Syria's chances of restoring its security, stressing that this occupied land is Syrian and Arab, according to what was reported by "Anadolu" from a statement by the Saudi Foreign Ministry. The statement said, "The Kingdom condemns and denounces the decision of the Israeli occupation government to expand settlements in the occupied Golan, and its continued sabotage of Syria's chances of restoring its security and stability." The statement added, "The Kingdom renews its call to the international community to condemn these Israeli violations," stressing "the need to respect Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and that the Golan is an occupied Syrian Arab land."

New Arab