Israeli cabinet agrees to double settlements in 'occupied' Golan Heights

The Israeli cabinet on Sunday (local time) unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan, which aims to double the settler population in the Golan Heights, Times of Israel reported.

Around 50,000 people live on the Israeli-controlled side of the heights, evenly split between Jews and Druze. The new plan worth 40 million Israeli New Shekel (NIS) ($11 million) plans to double it.

Netanyahu's office said the government had "unanimously approved" the "demographic development" of the territory, which would seek to double the Israeli population there.

The money will go toward education, renewable energy, the establishment of a student village and a plan for absorbing new residents, it added.

"Strengthening the Golan is strengthening the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time. We will continue to hold onto it, cause it to blossom, and settle in it," Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.

Notably, Israel conquered the Golan from Syria in 1967 and annexed it in 1981. Though most of the world does not recognize Israeli control of the region, the US granted its recognition in 2019, according to Times of Israel.

Since the rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew the over two-decades-long Bashar al-Assad regime on December 8, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes across Syria and carried out a land incursion that stretches past the occupied Golan Heights into a previously demilitarized buffer zone, as reported by The Washington Post.

The Israeli army swiftly took control of the abandoned army positions, and air attacks have decimated most of Syria's military capabilities.

Syria's de facto new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, denounced what he described as Israel's "uncalculated military adventures" on Saturday, ahile emphasising he was more interested in state-building than opening another conflict.

"Syria's war-weary condition, after years of conflict and war, does not allow for new confrontations. The priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability, not being drawn into disputes that could lead to further destruction," The Washington Post quoted him as saying in an interview on Syria TV.

Meanwhile, PM Netanyahu, in a post asserted that Israel "would change" the Middle East.

"I said we would change the Middle East and this is what is happening. Syria is not the same Syria. Lebanon is not the same Lebanon. Gaza is not the same Gaza. Iran is not the same Iran," Netanyahu said in a post on X.