Israel/Palestine Thread

STARRY: Israel is an apartheid theocracy. A civilised democracy would not be apartheid, it would not be Zionist.

Settler Colonialism in the West Bank

EI Plan: 3,401 housing units in area east of capital Jerusalem:

In early January 2026, Israel cleared the way to start construction on the settlement project known as EI Plan near Jerusalem that would SPLIT the West Bank in two.

Bezalel Smotrich is a junior minister who also holds a position at Israel’s defence ministry with oversight of planning issues in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Guardian

‘Israel poised to start construction of bypass through heart of West Bank’
‘Road project, part of blueprint for new illegal settlement in E1 area east of Jerusalem, is considered a tool of annexation’
By Emma Graham-Harrison
Tue 13 Jan 2026
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/13/israel-start-construction-bypass-west-bank-illegal-settlement

“Israel plans to start work next month on a bypass road that will close off the heart of the occupied West Bank to Palestinians and cement the de facto annexation of an area critical for the viability of a future Palestinian state.

“The road is a key part of the blueprint for a vast illegal new settlement in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, which would fragment the occupied West Bank. The Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said the plans were intended to “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”.

“Designed as a sealed transit corridor for Palestinian vehicles, the bypass will provide Israel with a pretext to bar Palestinians from existing roads in the planned settlement area, where only Israeli vehicles will be permitted.
....
“Opponents call the bypass “apartheid road” because it forces Palestinians and Israelis into separate transport systems.

Starry: ETHNIC CLEANSING:

“It will also be an instrument for ethnic cleansing of remaining Palestinian communities in the area said, Hagit Ofran, a settlement expert at the Israeli advocacy group Peace Now. “They want the land, they don’t want the people,” she said. If the new Israeli settlement is built, it will in effect sever the north and south of the occupied West Bank for Palestinians, and further isolate occupied East Jerusalem from other Palestinian communities.

AND

Starry: Israeli' MASSIVE settlement expansion' Plan for 9,000 housing units on site of Qalandiya Airport (Jerusalem International Airport) in West Bank. This Plan has the support of "broad political consensus within both Israel’s ruling coalition and opposition parties"

The Palestine Chronicle
‘Israeli Plan for Qalandiya Airport Seen as Key Step in ‘Greater Jerusalem’ Expansion’

HIGHLIGHT

Palestinian offical Salah Khawaja:
“The project, he said, aims to construct approximately 9,000 settlement housing units on the site, further isolating Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings and forcibly displacing dozens of Bedouin communities in the area.
....

"He added that the plan enjoys broad political consensus within both Israel’s ruling coalition and opposition parties and forms part of a wider strategy to expand settlements and link them to the Ma’ale Adumim settlement bloc. This, he said, would consolidate Israeli control over nearly 12 percent of the West Bank.

By Palestine Chronicle Staff, January 15, 2026

https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israeli-plan-for-qalandiya-airport-seen-as-key-step-in-greater-jerusalem-expansion/

"A Palestinian official has warned of serious strategic risks posed by a large Israeli settlement project planned on the land of the historic Qalandiya Airport, north of occupied Jerusalem.

Salah Khawaja, an official with the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, said the project is designed to alter the character of the area and impose new facts on the ground as part of Israel’s so-called “Greater Jerusalem” plan.
....

Times of Israel
‘Last hurdle cleared to start controversial E1 settlement project near Jerusalem’
‘Government issues tender for 3,401 housing units in area east of capital, which both critics and proponents say will effectively block a contiguous Palestinian state in the West Bank’
By AP and ToI Staff 7 January 2026,
https://www.timesofisrael.com/last-hurdle-cleared-to-start-controversial-settlement-project-near-jerusalem/

....
“The tender, which seeks bids from developers, would clear the way to begin building thousands of housing units in an area known as E1 east of the capital.

“In an alarming display of political recklessness, the Israeli government continues to undermine any prospect for a political solution and a better future for both Israelis and Palestinians,” Peace Now said in a Monday statement. “Construction in E1 is intended to create irreversible facts on the ground leading to a one-state reality.”
....
The E1 project is especially contentious because it will link Maaleh Adumim to the capital, creating a contiguous bloc of settlements deep into the West Bank. Critics say it would prevent the establishment of a contiguous Palestinian state in the territory.
....

____________________________________

BELOW ARE SOME BACKGROUND REFERENCES

BBC
'Israeli settlement plans will 'bury' idea of Palestinian state, minister says'
15 August 2025, Tom McArthur, BBC News in London and Jon Donnison, BBC News in Jerusalem
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgdzxpkdd7o

“About 700,000 settlers live in approximately 160 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now. It is land Palestinians seek for a future independent state.

Bezalel Smotrich said:

"This is Zionism at its best - building, settling and strengthening our sovereignty in the Land of Israel."

“This reality definitively buries the idea of a Palestinian state, simply because there is nothing to recognise, and no-one to recognise."

Announcing the plan at a news conference with settler organisation Yesha Council Chairman Israel Ganz and Maale Adumim Mayor Guy Yifrach, Smotrich said the land had been given to the Jews by God.
....

The Guardian
“The Israeli NGO Peace Now, which monitors settlement building, said:

“The Netanyahu government is exploiting every minute to deepen the annexation of the West Bank and prevent the possibility of a two-state solution. It is clear to everyone today that the only solution to the conflict, and the only way to defeat Hamas, is through the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. The government of Israel is condemning us to continued bloodshed, instead of working to end it.”

‘Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said he believes E1 plan will ‘bury the idea of a Palestinian state’

By Peter Beaumont, Fri 15 Aug 2025
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/14/israel-appears-set-to-approve-controversial-settlement-of-3400-homes-in-west-bank

“Strongly opposed by the international community, the so-called E1 plan would extend the existing Jewish settlement of Ma’ale Adumim towards Jerusalem, further cutting occupied east Jerusalem from the West Bank, and further separating the north and south of the territory.”

https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2025/06/joint-statement-by-the-foreign-ministers-of-australia-canada-new-zealand-norway-and-the-united-kingdom-on-measures-targeting-itamar-ben-gvir-and-be.html

Joint statement by the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom on measures targeting Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich
From: Global Affairs Canada

Statement
June 10, 2025 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

"Today, the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom have announced sanctions and other measures targeting Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich for inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

"Settler violence is incited by extremist rhetoric which calls for Palestinians to be driven from their homes, encourages violence and human rights abuses and fundamentally rejects the two-state solution. Settler violence has led to the deaths of Palestinian civilians and the displacement of whole communities.

"We are steadfastly committed to the two-state solution which is the only way to guarantee security and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians and ensure long term stability in the region, but it is imperilled by extremist settler violence and settlement expansion.

Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have incited extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights. Extremist rhetoric advocating the forced displacement of Palestinians and the creation of new Israeli settlements is appalling and dangerous. ....
....

Shows how wrong your definition is. About 10 European countries have Christian symbols on their flags but European states like Switzerland or Denmark are not “Christian States” any more than Turkey or Tunisia are Islamic states.

Your definition based on flag symbols would have been challenged by the Ethiopian flag under Haile Selassie.

Zionism is a supremacist ideology. Israel is a ethno state. One of only a couple of ethno states in the world. I believe supremacist ethno states often, if not inevitably end in the ethnic cleansing and genocide we have all seen over recent years.
Israel and Pakistan are the only religious nuclear armed states.
I believe the greatest threat to the future of humanity is religious states with nuclear weapons.
Israel is the only ethno state with nuclear weapons

I doubt any of us would be around today if previous ethno states had a nuclear arsenal.
If previous ethno states had nuclear weapons and also had an apocalyptic doctrine to ensure that its defeat would result in global catastrophe.

So, no, I don’t believe that supremacist ethno states are a benign presence in the world. I would love to see a thriving, peaceful democratic state of Israel with a Jewish majority, but not one whose Jewish majority was based on genocide and ethnic cleansing.

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-samson-option-will-the-temple-columns-soon-fall-on-israels-enemies/

The weight of concern is dependent on geo political interests. In other words, Russia attacking civilian infrastructure is a monstrous crime, but Israel has a right to do it according to Kier. Israel is only ever at risk of breaking international law, but Russia is clearly doing so- and Kier can make that determination from videos when it comes to Russia, but not Israel. Kier doesn't need to wait for facts when it involves an adversary but had to wait for the facts around the Kidnapping in Venezula. I wouldn’t say the world has lost its morality, it has always been like this- we just have been smacked in the face with the evidence of it in the last 24 months to the point we can no longer deny it. "The powerful do as they want, the weak suffer what they must "

Thats the reality of it, Cluedo.

No Sean, you incorrectly claimed

”. As I understand it, they're perfectly satisfied for 99.6% of the MENA region to be occupied by Islamic states, with around 50-odd such countries in the MENA region and beyond.”

Haha - "Israel is surrounded by enemies" !

At least he got that bit right.

The next question he needs to ask himself is "Why".

"Why is Israel is surrounded by enemies ?"

If he even scratches the surface he won't be liking the answer to that question .

@SeanW Wondering will I get a response to the above?

You used a source to show SA are "only a few steps away" from genocide. The same source has Israel steps ahead of SA, do you accept this?

THE REOPENING OF RAFAH CROSSING IS CONSIDERED SYMBOLIC AT MOST, AND A COMPLETE SHAM …

Palestinian analyst, Muhammad Shahada (who was born in Gaza) said:

”This moment has been robbed by the insane amount of Israeli restrictions, loopholes, and caveats that's rendered Rafa's reopening symbolic at most, if not a sham. Anyone crossing into Gaza will get stuck and caged, and anyone crossing out will get banished and exiled."

Respected Guardian journalist Emma Graham-Harrison said:

‘I think the latest reports I saw said that five patients were let out with with caregivers and around a dozen people were allowed to enter Gaza. So really just a a sort of symbolic crossing, nothing to even begin to meet both the need for people to seek medical treatment outside Gaza and the desire of Palestinians to go back to their families and their homes, devastated as they are.”

Journalist Emma Graham-Harrison said : RAFAH CROSSING

"So just to give that some context, there's really two types of patients. There's people who've been injured during this war. The total number of injured creeping towards 200,000. At the same time that the war was injuring them, Israeli attacks were devastating the hospitals. So it's almost impossible to get health care. And then there's people who have the type of illnesses that we see everywhere in the world. Cancer, diabetes, people who need liver transplants. And that type of medicine's also impossible in Gaza. And so many of these are really urgent cases.
....

"Israel hasn't actually said officially how many people it's going to let in and out. We've seen reports in Israeli media quoting security sources saying that 150 people will be let out each day. 50 people will be let in. Those figures in themselves are pretty contentious because as you can see over the long term that will lead to a depopulation. It will lead to a decrease in the Palestinian population of Gaza. But at that rate, even if it was working that would mean some of these people who were critically ill would be waiting for a year just to get out of Gaza to see a doctor.

JOURNO EMMA SAID SINCE TRUMP’S 21 POINT PEACE PLAN WAS AGREED IN OCTOBER - TO CALL IT A CEASEFIRE IS QUESTIONABLE, AS THERE’S A REALLY HIGH RATE OF DEATHS

STARRY: SINCE THE “PEACE” PLAN WAS SIGNED ON 9 OCTOBER 2025, AND CAME INTO EFFECT THE FOLLOWING DAY, THERE HAVE BEEN 529 DEATHS IN ISRAELI’S ONGOING GENOCIDE. - ACCORDING TO UNICEF, MORE THAN 100 OF THOSE KILLED WERE CHILDREN

AND THERE ARE 1,462 WOUNDED PALESTINIANS

Drop Site News, Feb 04, 2026
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/nine-palestinians-killed-five-patients-rafah-crossing-costa-rica-right-wing-elections-trump-nationalized-elections?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share

"Casualty counts: At least three Palestinians were killed and 15 were injured in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 71,803 killed, with 171,570 injured. Since October 11, the first full day of the ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 529 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 1,462, while 717 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Ministry of Health.

IN PHASE II OF THE CEASEFIRE, ISRAELI MILITARY IS MEANT TO WITHDRAW. THEY CONTROL MORE THAN HALF OF GAZA

INTERESTINGLY, GUARDIAN JOURNO EMMA SAYS THE INTERNATIONAL SECURITY FORCE (ISF) DOES NOT EXIST

Guardian journalist Emma Graham-Harrison said:

“Israel says they're not going to do anything. They're not going to pull back. They're not going to move forward unless there's demilitarisation of Hamas. That's a very big question. Who's going to do it? In theory, on paper, that's meant to be done by this so-called International Security Force [ISF] that Trump's plan set up for Gaza. The international security force doesn't exist. No one's yet firmly committed troops. And the countries have said that they might commit troops have said very clearly they don't want to be involved in trying to demilitarise Hamas because that would essentially mean as things stand without an agreement to demilitarise Hamas. Fighting Hamas. And, you know, there's there's so far no takers to sort of do that.”

'Gaza: vital border crossing reopens under Israeli restrictions | The Latest'
Today in Focus and Guardian News

LE MONDE
‘Gaza: Israeli strikes cause near-daily deaths despite ceasefire’

‘More than 500 Palestinians have been killed since October 10, 2025, the date fighting was supposed to have stopped under the US peace plan. Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to maintain 'security control over the entire area from the Jordan River to the sea,' including the Gaza Strip.”

By Luc Bronner (Jerusalem, correspondent), February 2, 2026, at 1:15 pm (Paris)
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2026/02/02/gaza-israeli-strikes-cause-near-daily-deaths-despite-ceasefire_6750046_4.html

“In nearly four months, more than 520 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes or gunfire, an average of just over 4.5 deaths per day. Another 1,400 have been wounded, and three Israeli soldiers have been killed. During the two years of war between the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023 and October 10, 2025, the daily average exceeded 92 deaths, according to figures provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health.”

BBC 'Ceasefire comes into force as Israel's military pulls out of parts of Gaza'

Alys Davies, 10 October 2025

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjw7jp2pxnpo