Israel has approved the largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in over three decades, despite mounting international pressure against the regime’s settlement expansion in Palestine.

An anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now said Wednesday that Tel Aviv recently approved the appropriation of 12.7 square kilometers (nearly 5 square miles) of land in the Jordan Valley.

The land seizure, which was approved late last month but only publicized on Wednesday, is the largest single appropriation approved since the 1993 Oslo accords.

The accords, signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) thirty years ago, were supposed to bring about Palestinian self-determination, in the form of a Palestinian state.

The regime’s latest land seizure will likely increase violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

“Israeli forces have [since October 7] unleashed a brutal wave of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank,” Amnesty International said.

The regime’s forces, it said, “[are] carrying out unlawful killings, including by using lethal force without necessity or disproportionately during protests and arrest raids, and denying medical assistance to those injured.”

Violent attacks by both the regime’s forces and settlers, who live on Palestinian land, have forcibly displaced Palestinians from 20 communities and have entirely uprooted at least 7 communities since Israel started its bombardment of the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, according to Human Rights Watch.

At least 502 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since then.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir