Another illegal annexation

Earlier this month, Israel's security cabinet reportedly approved in secret the establishment of 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank. The reports suggest the secrecy and timing of the move were to keep it out of the world's eye in the middle of the Iran War, which was also instigated by Israel. This makes the largest single-session West Bank settlement approval and brings the total number of settlements greenlit by the Netanyahu government to 102. For comparison, there were a total of 127 'official' settlements before this coalition took power. Under the fog of war, Israel is pursuing an unprecedented campaign of annexation in violation of international law and treaty obligations. Even the Supreme Court of Israel has said that the settlements are illegal, but neither the laws of man nor God have restrained Netanyahu in his quest to become a comic book supervillain.

This is also partly because the world pays nominal lip service to Israeli crimes. An actual genocide is taking place, yet no major power has threatened meaningful action. In fact, the US, the UK, Germany and several other European states are actively supporting the bloodbath through their weapons sales and unobstructed trade. Muslim nations that recognise Israel have also made no effort to pressure Netanyahu. In light of the tacit approval of Israel's murder machine, it is completely unsurprising that nobody is interested to take Israel to task.

Israel's government no longer even bothers to deny its apartheid character. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich openly boasts that new settlements will "completely destroy the idea of a Palestinian state". The government is actively arming settlers, who, according to the UN, form "state-backed terror squads at the forefront of Israel's ethnic cleansing and annexation policy". The lack of international accountability is what has led us here. Countries that refuse to impose sanctions, suspend trade agreements or halt arms transfers all share responsibility, if not complicity, in the crimes of the apartheid state.