- In June of 1967, on the doorstep
of the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem,
an Israeli bulldozer clears Palestinian homes.
Israel had just won the Six-Day War
against a coalition of Arab states,
including Egypt, Syria, and Jordan,
and in the process, expanded its borders
by occupying East Jerusalem, the West Bank,
and the Gaza Strip,
and marked the start of a decades-long effort
to seize or demolish Palestinian properties
in the Occupied Territories, and in their place,
establish Israeli settlements.
For years, these settlements swelled
as hundreds of thousands of Israelis
moved into new homes and Palestinians were displaced.
Today, there are 144 settlements
in the West Bank in East Jerusalem
which are considered illegal under international law.
That's not to mention the over 100 Israeli outposts,
some of which aren't even legal under Israeli law.
The number of Jewish settlers in these areas
now exceeds 800,000.
Despite strong international opposition to construction,
settlements in recent months are expanding at faster rates
and cropping up in new areas.
Israel's new far-right government,
driven by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir,
and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich,
have placed settlement expansion
among the government's top priorities.
- They are saying what was barely the quiet part
before very much out loud now.
It has put the Biden Administration
in a clearly very difficult position
because the Biden Administration
clearly does not actually want to shift and change
the way that it is relating to the Israeli government.
- Moving to the settlements is a popular sell
for some Israelis who are enticed to these areas
because of their significantly lower housing costs.
And some say they are continuing in the work
of Israel's original pioneers or reclaiming a biblical homeland.
"The land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel.
This is the property of our ancestors.
I say to Americans and Europeans,
stop worrying, this is our mission, this, our doctrine.
Nine settlements are nice, but it's still not enough.
We want much more."
But the international community has regarded these settlements
as illegal and blamed their expansion for hampering
the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
This expansion is inflaming an already volatile situation.
This year's on track to be the deadliest
in the West Bank in two decades,
with more than 60 Palestinians killed
by Israeli soldiers and settlers.
At least 14 Israelis have been killed in attacks
by Palestinians.
- There's always been impunity,
but the sense that people, you know, are more emboldened,
there's no history of any of these settlers
really facing any blowback,
and there does not appear to be any change in that.
- And the violence is spreading.
On February 26th, after two Israeli brothers
were shot and killed, hundreds of settlers rampaged
through the Palestinian town of Huwara,
torching dozens of homes and businesses.
The United States has, for years,
pressed Israel to curb settlement expansion,
but critics argue that Washington's words
have rarely been met with action.
At the Jordanian coastal city of Aqaba on February 26,
King Abdullah hosted leaders from Israel,
the Palestinian Authority, Egypt,
and the US to discuss the West Bank's escalating violence.
A joint statement issued after the summit shared
that Israel had committed to halting new settlement projects.
Hours after the statement was released, however,
members of Israel's governing coalition denied the freeze.
Among the rebuffs was Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
who tweeted, "There is not and will not be any freeze."
The State Department said it expected Israel
would abide to its original commitment
at the Jordanian summit.
- That's the one that we stand behind
and that we hope and expect the parties will fulfill.
- The friction between Israel
and the US on settlement expansion
could now harm the Biden Administration's efforts
to work with Israel on other issues, like dealing with Iran.
And Washington's often-stated dream
of a two-state solution may no longer be a reality.
- There really is no two-state solution anymore.
It continues to be sort of what politicians talk
about despite the fact that that really is a huge disconnect
from what's actually on the ground right now.