Israeli minister admits ‘annexation’ in West Bank, connects settlements to utilities

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen, a member of Israel’s Security Cabinet, stated on Monday that the government is effectively carrying out “annexation” in the occupied West Bank. Writing on the US-based social media platform X, Cohen said what is happening amounts to “applying sovereignty in practice” — a term Israel often uses to refer to annexation. He announced an agreement to connect new illegal settlements, including Homesh, Sa-Nur, Rehavam, and Ebal, to water and electricity networks.

Settlement expansion accelerates

The Palestinian Authority has long called on the international community to halt Israeli settlement expansion, with little success. Approximately 750,000 Israeli settlers live in hundreds of illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank, including around 250,000 in East Jerusalem, where Palestinians report frequent attacks aimed at forced displacement. Since taking office in December 2022, Netanyahu’s government has accelerated settlement activity across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which the UN considers occupied Palestinian territory.

Violence and displacement rise

Violence has intensified in the West Bank since Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza began in October 2023. Palestinian sources report that Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 1,150 Palestinians, injured about 11,750, and arrested nearly 22,000. The escalation includes home demolitions, infrastructure destruction, and settlement expansion. Palestinians warn that Israel is paving the way for formal annexation, undermining prospects for a Palestinian state envisioned in UN resolutions.