Israel approves plan to expand settlements in Golan Heights | Israel-Palestine Conflicts News

This comes a few days after rebels overthrew Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, just weeks before Donald Trump was re-elected as US president.

The Israeli government has approved a plan to increase the number of people living in illegal settlements in the Golan Heights, days after it was occupied by Syria following the overthrow of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the government had “unanimously approved” “population development” in the occupied territory, which would seek to double Israel's population there.

The only new plan is the part of the Golan Heights that Israel has occupied since 1967. In 1981, the Israeli Knesset took action to put Israeli law in place, in an effective merger.

This plan has nothing to do with the part of Syrian land that Israel seized after the overthrow of al-Assad last week. The seized area, which was cleared by the war as part of an agreement reached after the 1973 war, includes Mount Hermon overlooking the Syrian capital Damascus.

In a statement, Netanyahu praised the plan, which provides more than 40 million shekels ($11m) to increase the number of residents.

There are approximately 31,000 Israeli settlers spread over dozens of illegal settlements in the Golan Heights. They live alongside smaller groups, including the Druze, commonly known as Syrians.

“Strengthening the Golan strengthens the State of Israel, and it is very important at this time,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to hold on to it, make it flourish, and settle on it.”

Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh said the approval comes at what Israel considers an “opportunity moment”.

Although Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights is illegal under international law, during his first term in office, from 2017 to 2021, US President-elect Donald Trump made the United States the first country in the world to officially recognize the sovereignty of Israel in this area.

Trump will take office again on January 20 after winning the US presidential election in November.

“Netanyahu is using this time to announce other jobs to consolidate that job and make it permanent,” said Odeh. “It's similar to what he did in the West Bank where there are many people: land confiscation, settlement, permanent settlement.”

Meanwhile, Netanyahu's office said he discussed the situation in Syria when he spoke with Trump on Saturday. He also discussed efforts to reach an agreement to end the fighting in Gaza.

Although Israel has launched hundreds of strikes on Syrian territory since opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew al-Assad and decided to create an interim government, Netanyahu said: “We are not interested in conflict with Syria.”

He said the attack would “deter potential threats from Syria and prevent terrorist takeovers near our border”.

On Sunday, Saudi Arabia was among the first to criticize Israel's new plan to increase the number of migrants, while accusing Israeli leaders of seeking to destroy the fledgling Syrian revolution.