Israel upends the map of the West Bank upside with its annexation frenzy

"The Netanyahu government (the most ultranationalist the country has had since its founding in 1948) has been rapidly transforming the West Bank since 2022. The result: an unprecedented expansion of settlements, overshadowed by the invasion of Gaza; record land expropriations; and more than 3,000 people expelled by settler violence."

"Everything is becoming increasingly rapid and explicit, with a new buzzword in the national political lexicon: sovereignty. The consequences are visible. Every journey through the West Bank reveals something new. From more Israeli flags and Jewish symbols along the roadsides to the near-total absence of Palestinians in open spaces: they have been replaced by Israeli settlers taking their livestock out to pasture."

"I feel, she said, like someone who stops at a traffic light and suddenly the light turns green."

Israel has accelerated a de facto annexation of the West Bank through rapid settlement expansion, land expropriations, and transfer of authority from military to civilian control. The current government, the most ultranationalist since 1948, has overseen unprecedented settlement growth, record land seizures, and more than 3,000 people expelled by settler violence. New measures deepen control without formal annexation, using rhetoric of sovereignty and administrative civilianization. The landscape shows increased Israeli symbols, barriers at Palestinian towns, proto-settlements, and settlers using formerly Palestinian open spaces. Political shifts and electoral pressures are driving faster, more explicit consolidation of territory.

Read at english.elpais.com