Indonesia strongly condemns Israel’s decision to legalize five Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Palestine.
In a statement released via its X account on July 1, 2024, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Israel’s continued settlement and occupation of Palestinian territory is a violation of international law and relevant United Nations (UN) resolutions.
As CNN reported, the Israeli government is seeking to “bolster” Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank after a supermajority by UN members.
recognized the State of Palestine as a sovereign state.
A spokesman for Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told CNN that the Israeli government agreed in a late-night cabinet meeting to recognize five Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that were built illegally and that Smotrich would remit tax funds to the Palestinian Authority that Israel collects on its behalf.
In a statement to CNN on Sunday, June 30, 2024, Smotrich’s office said the decision to release funds to the Palestinian Authority was “immediate” and would cover the last three months. The funds were frozen following the October 7, 2023 attacks.
CNN has reached out to the Prime Minister’s Office, which has yet to publicly comment on the reports. Once approved, the settlements will more closely resemble parts of Israel, with access to water, electricity and medical care.
The Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, told CNN on Sunday that it had not yet received any funds from Israel.
“So far, no money or official message from Israel has been received,” an official source in the Palestinian Authority said.
Smotrich is a prominent far-right member of the Israeli cabinet and opposes the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
He has long advocated settlement building, seeing it as a way to prevent the West Bank from becoming part of an independent state.
“The goal is to change the DNA of the system for many, many years,” Smotrich said, according to an audio clip of a speech he gave earlier this month.
