Israel announced on Friday the seizure of 800 hectares (1,977 acres) of land in the occupied West Bank, described by activists as the largest land grab in decades.
The area in the northern Jordan Valley was declared "state lands" by Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, coinciding with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit for Gaza war discussions.
Peace Now, an Israeli settlement watchdog, stated that this seizure is the largest since the Oslo Accords of 1993, noting that "2024 marks a peak in the extent of declarations of state land." Israel gained control of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
"While there are those in Israel and the world who seek to undermine our right over the Judea and Samaria area and the country in general, we are promoting settlement through hard work and in a strategic manner all over the country," Smotrich said, using Israel's term for the West Bank.
Settlements in the Palestinian territories are illegal under international law.
Smotrich, who heads the extreme-right Religious Zionism party, lives in a settlement.
Despite opposition abroad, Israel has in recent decades built dozens of illegal settlements across the West Bank.
They are now home to more than 490,000 Israelis, who live alongside around 3 million Palestinians in the territory.
The United Nations human rights chief has reported a drastic acceleration in illegal settlement building since Israel's war against Palestinians in Gaza began months ago and said this risks eliminating any likelihood of a viable Palestinian state.
Blinken has described settlement expansion as "counterproductive to reaching enduring peace" with Palestine.
