Israel approves construction of new settlement in the Gaza Strip

Jerusalem: Israel’s Planning and Building Council on Tuesday approved the establishment of a new settlement in the Gaza Strip under the name Hanoun, comprising 500 settler families, Anadolu Agency reported.

A discussion was held in the National Planning and Building Council, and at its conclusion, the Council approved and recommended the Israeli government to establish the Hanun settlement in the east of Kibbutz Saad in the Gaza envelope within the Sdot Hanegev Regional Council.

The new settlement will meet the demand for settlements in the region and will strengthen our southern border with the Gaza Strip.

The new settlement is scheduled to accommodate 500 Israeli families, and Hebrew press reports have previously said that the Israeli government will allocate one million shekels (323,000 dollars) to build its own infrastructure.

Hanoun is a temporary name that will be given to the new settlement, and it is the first to be approved for construction in the Gaza envelope in years.

The Gaza envelope is used to refer to the more than 50 Israeli settlements adjacent to and close to the Gaza Strip.

Israeli minister also congratulated the Sdot Hanegev Regional Council for the inauguration of a new settlement that can accommodate 500 families.

The number of settlers in the Gaza envelope increased from about 42,000 in 2009 to about 55,000 in 2019, an increase of 30.6 percent, according to a report by the Hebrew economic website Globes in May 2021.

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