The occupied West Bank has been transformed by the rapid growth of Jewish settlements in land that Palestinians see as the heart of a future state.

Israel’s new defense minister has said security forces would no longer apply administrative detention orders to Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, and thus only Palestinian suspects can be held indefinitely without trial.

Advocates of Jewish settlement in the West Bank believe they have reason to celebrate after Donald Trump's election win.

Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has ordered preparations for the annexation of settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The U.S. Treasury Department Monday imposed sanctions on Amana, Israel's largest settlement development organization, and its Binyanei Bar Amana subsidiary, calling the groups "a key part of the Israeli extremist settlement movement" and accusing them of supporting growing settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

The U.S. on Monday imposed sanctions on organizations and firms involved in illegal settlement development in the occupied West Bank, including a well-established decades-old group that has close ties with Israeli leadership.

The post Defense Minister Katz announces end to administrative detention for West Bank settlers appeared first on The Times of Israel.