Israeli authorities on Wednesday evening inaugurated a new settlement in the southern occupied West Bank, deliberately severing geographic contiguity between Palestinian towns and villages connecting Bethlehem and Hebron.
Ministers, state officials, and Knesset members attended the launch of the “Ma’aleh Arugot” settlement within the sprawling Gush Etzion settlement bloc, according to Israel’s Channel 7.
The Israeli broadcaster identified Ma’aleh Arugot as the third settlement established in just seven days, following the founding of “Makeda,” northwest of Hebron, and “Noa,” south of the evacuated settlements of “Ganim” and “Kadim.”
Channel 7 also noted that authorities constructed the new outpost along an axis bridging the western and eastern sectors of the Gush Etzion bloc, one of the largest colonial settlement complexes in the southern West Bank.
Speaking at the inauguration, Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich hailed the launch as “another significant step in the settlement revolution we have led for four years across Judea and Samaria,” employing the biblical term for the occupied West Bank. Smotrich stated that the initiative aimed to “eliminate the idea of establishing a terrorist state in the heart of the State of Israel.”
Smotrich highlighted the ongoing establishment of multiple settlements and farms alongside approvals for “thousands of housing units in historic quantities that will alter the map of the State of Israel for generations to come.”
Echoing this objective, Yaron Rosenthal, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, declared that the new settlement blocks the emergence of a contiguous Palestinian territory stretching from Bethlehem toward Hebron.
Rosenthal stated that establishing the settlement “alters reality on the ground” and thwarts initiatives to create a Palestinian state in the heart of Israel.
Settlement activity across the occupied Palestinian territories, including occupied East Jerusalem, has surged dramatically since the formation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in late 2022, according to Palestinian news agency Ma'an.
More than 750,000 Israeli settlers currently reside throughout the West Bank across 141 settlements and 224 colonial outposts, including roughly 250,000 settlers across 15 settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.
In a statement issued Thursday, Amnesty International condemned the unlawful expansion of Israeli settlements, reiterating its demand that Israeli authorities dismantle all settlements, which it affirmed “constitute war crimes under international law.”
Meanwhile, Israeli occupation army has initiated troop redeployments to reinforce its presence across the West Bank. The military anticipates spiraling confrontations fueled by settler violence targeting Palestinian residents.
Israeli military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir had also issued directives last week to raise readiness levels across the West Bank and prepare a reserve division for deployment should escalating unrest require additional reinforcements in the sector.
The accelerated construction follows a July 2025 vote in the Israeli Knesset approving a draft bill urging the government to “impose Israeli sovereignty” over the occupied West Bank. The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee subsequently approved legislation authorizing settlers to directly purchase land in the occupied territory.
