New settlement neighbourhood to be built near Kiryat Arba, south of Hebron

The council of the Kiryat Arba settlement announced the establishment of a new settlement neighborhood on the outskirts of the settlement south of the West Bank city of Hebron, the first such expansion in decades, after 10 Israeli families recently moved into the new neighborhood near the Bani Naim junction.

Israel Hayom newspaper said the project was initiated by the local council in cooperation with the Amana settlement movement. The new neighborhood, named “Avi’ad”, is located at a strategic site on the road linking Hebron with settlements south of Mount Hebron.

According to the settlement council, the goal is “to prevent Palestinian geographic contiguity from Hebron to the Negev and the eastern border,” as well as “to strengthen the connection between the settlements of Kiryat Arba and Ma’ale Hever.”

Kiryat Arba council head Israel Bermson described the establishment of the neighborhood as a “historic step that realizes the vision of generations,” claiming it is “a clear message that Judea (the West Bank) belongs to the people of Israel.”

Kiryat Arba is located at the eastern entrance to Hebron and is one of the largest and most politically and security-sensitive settlement outposts in the West Bank.

The announcement comes as Israel’s mini-cabinet for political and security affairs (the “kabinett”) prepares to meet on Sunday to discuss punitive escalation measures against the Palestinians, including the annexation of parts of the West Bank, in response to an expected wave of international recognitions of a Palestinian state.

According to the state broadcaster citing informed political sources, steps the cabinet may consider include imposing sovereignty over parts of the West Bank, evacuating the Khan al-Ahmar Bedouin community east of Jerusalem, and advancing settlement projects in the E1 plan.

The E1 plan is an Israeli settlement scheme aimed at linking Jerusalem with several settlements east of it in the West Bank, such as Ma’ale Adumim, through the seizure of Palestinian land in the area and the establishment of new settlements, preventing any potential Palestinian expansion.

The channel said the discussions are part of Israel’s response to an expected wave of recognitions of a Palestinian state by a number of European and other countries in the coming month.

Meanwhile, Israel, with U.S. backing, has been carrying out what the article described as a genocide in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, which it said has left 63,025 Palestinians dead and 159,490 wounded, most of them children and women, more than 9,000 missing, hundreds of thousands displaced, and a famine that has claimed the lives of 322 Palestinians, including 121 children.

Alongside the Gaza offensive, Israel has waged a military campaign in the West Bank that, according to Palestinian figures, has killed at least 1,016 Palestinians, wounded about 7,000, and resulted in the arrest of more than 18,500 people.