The move comes days after rebel groups defeated Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, weeks before Donald Trump is re-elected president of the United States.
The Israeli government has approved a plan to increase the number of illegal settlers in the occupied the Golan Heightsdays after it seized more Syrian territory following the toppling of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the government had “unanimously agreed” to the “demographic development” of the occupied territory, which would seek to double Israel's population there.
The new plan is only for the portion of the Golan Heights that Israel has occupied since 1967. In 1981, Israel's Knesset moved to apply Israeli law over the land, in an effective annexation.
The plan does not relate to the share of Syrian land caught by Israel due to the rise of al-Assad a week ago. The captured area, which was demilitarized as part of an agreement reached after the 1973 war, also includes Mount Hermon overlooking the Syrian capital Damascus.
In a statement, Netanyahu praised the plan, which will provide more than 40 million checks ($11m) to increase the number of settlers.
There are already about 31,000 Israeli settlers scattered across dozens of illegal settlements in the Golan Heights. They live with minority groups, including the Druze, who mostly identify as Syrian.
“Strengthening the Golan strengthens the State of Israel, and it is especially important at this time,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to stick to it, make it grow, and settle in.”
Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh said the approval comes at what Israel sees as an “opportune time”.
While Israel's occupation of the Golan Heights is illegal under international law, during his first term in office, from 2017 to 2021, US President-elect Donald Trump made the United States the first country in the world that officially recognized Israel's sovereignty over the region.
Trump is expected to resume office on January 20 after winning the US presidential election in November.
“Netanyahu is using this moment to announce more settlement activity to bring in that occupation and make it permanent,” Odeh said. “Much like he is doing in the West Bank: detention land, settlements, permanent work.”
At the same time, Netanyahu's office said that he had considered the situation in Syria during a phone call with Trump on Saturday. He also discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
Despite Israel launching hundreds of strikes on Syrian sites since opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted al-Assad and moved to form a transitional government, said Netanyahu: “We are not interested in a conflict with Syria.”
He said the attacks were “to prevent the possible dangers in Syria and to prevent terrorist elements from taking over our border”.
On Sunday, Saudi Arabia was among the first to criticize Israel's new plan to increase the number of settlers, accusing Israeli leaders of trying to sabotage the new Syrian movement.
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