The Israeli government approved the establishment of six new settlements in the Gush Etzion region, the Gush Etzion Regional Council announced Tuesday. The settlements are designed to create a continuous bloc connecting Gush Etzion to the Ella Valley, Hebron, the Dead Sea, and the eastern and western parts of the region.
The Israeli government on Tuesday approved the establishment of six new settlements in the Gush Etzion region, in a move the Gush Etzion Regional Council described as a strategic shift in the area's settlement map. The decision, announced by the council, aims to create a continuous settlement bloc linking Gush Etzion to the Ella Valley in the west, Hebron in the south, the Dead Sea in the east, and unifying the eastern and western parts of the bloc.
The six settlements are: Mashuot Har (on the site of the former Mashuot Yitzhak), Giv'ot Adulam (connecting westward to the Ella Valley and Beit Shemesh), Gad Natan (south, between Karmei Tzur and Hebron), Ma'ale Arugot (between Efrat and the Otniel Junction, linking western and eastern Gush Etzion), Shizaf (between Tekoa and Ma'ale Amos, creating a continuous eastern line), and Mitzpe Dargot (east of Tekoa, toward the Dead Sea valley).
The decision is part of a broader government push to expand settlement in Judea and Samaria, as The Zioneer has previously reported. Yaron Rosenthal, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, hailed the approval as a historic step, stating that the connectivity achieved is as significant as the new communities themselves. Rosenthal thanked Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the government for advancing the initiative.
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