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The Israeli regime has announced the occupation of some 6,000 acres of Palestinian territories in the West Bank as part of the illegal entity’s land grab policy, marking the largest annexation by the Tel Aviv regime in decades.

Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich was cited by the regime’s Channel 14 on Friday as declaring the confiscation of 24,000 dunums (5930.5 acres) of the occupied West Bank and classifying them as what he claimed to be “state lands.”

Stressing that the decision covers nearly half of the land confiscated as “state lands” since the Oslo Accords in 1993, the broadcaster said the announcement is a dramatic step that is expected to affect regional planning and change the face of the region.

“At the right time, today we completed a complex process to announce 24,000 dunums of new state lands in the West Bank,” Smotrich said.

“This process creates a settlement sequence, builds land reserves for Israel to develop settlements, infrastructure and roads, and guarantees that we will continue to strengthen the settlements, and we are here to stay,” he added.

In a post on X, the Israeli finance minister also wrote, “More than 23,000 dunams of land for the benefit of the settlement in Yosh. We determine facts on the ground and thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state!”

According to Channel 14, the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, east of occupied al-Quds, would be expanded by approximately 2,600 dunums (642 acres) to the south to create a settlement chain linked to the illegal settlement of Kedar.

Other illegal settlements such as Migdal Oz and Susya in the southern West Bank and Yafit in the Jordan Valley will also be expanded.

The Israeli channel also quoted Smotrich as claiming that the decision was a “historic achievement that contributes to strengthening settlement activity and expanding land designated for infrastructure and settlement projects.”

Last month, the far-right minister claimed that next year would see the application of “Israeli sovereignty” over the occupied West Bank.

More than 700,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds, with international law viewing both as “occupied territories” and considering all Jewish settlement-building activity there as illegal.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a landmark advisory opinion in July and declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and al-Quds.

The latest Israeli land garb comes as the regime has ramped up its aggression against Palestinians across the West Bank since October 7 last year, when it launched a genocidal war against the Gaza Strip. The occupation has since claimed more than 44,500 lives in the besieged enclave.

Aleppo: Dreaded Takfiri-terrorist groups reached Syria’s second city of Aleppo Friday, as they pressed a lightning offensive against forces of the Iranian and Russian-backed government.

The fighting is some of the deadliest in years, with 255 people killed, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Most of the dead have been combatants but the toll also includes 24 civilians.

The offensive began on Wednesday, the same day that a fragile ceasefire took effect in neighboring Lebanon between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

‘Zionist plot’

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has vowed to support Syria in its fight against terrorists after the resurgence of Takfiri terrorism in the Arab country. 

“The new movements of Takfiri-terrorist groups are part of the plot of the US and the illegitimate Zionist regime,” Qalibaf said on Friday in a post on his X account.

He urged the neighbors of Syria “to be vigilant and not to fall into their trap.”

“After defeating the Zionist regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the axis of resistance will support the Syrian government and people against the new conspiracy like in the past,” Qalibaf stressed.

Captured 50 towns

By Friday, the terrorists had wrested control of more than 50 towns and villages in the north, according to the Britain-based Observatory, in the government’s biggest loss of territory in years.

They then entered western districts of Aleppo, a city of some two million people that was Syria’s pre-war manufacturing hub.

“Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions... were able to enter the outskirts of the Al-Hamdaniya and New Aleppo neighborhoods... after carrying out twin suicide attacks with two booby-trapped cars,” the war monitor said.

HTS, a dreaded terror alliance led by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria branch, shelled a student residence in the city, killing four civilians, state media reported.

Syrian and Russian warplanes launched intense air strikes on the rebel enclave around Idlib, where the militants are based, carrying out 23 raids, according to the Observatory.

Army reinforcements have arrived in Aleppo, a Syrian security official told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

An army statement said troops had repelled the assault on the city and retaken some positions.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said “more than 14,000 people — nearly half are children — have been displaced” by the violence.

Udupi: The police have booked a case against the office-bearers of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) for holding 'Chalo Belagavi - Ambedkar Jatha’ without permission and thereby disrupting the movement of vehicles on national highway at Hejmadi.

The SDPI held a jatha on December 10 from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm. According to the police, the group had unlawfully gathered near the National Highway toll gate in Hejmadi. Despite instructions from the PSI to disperse, they failed to act and disrupted the traffic on the national highway.

The police have booked case against SDPI state secretary Riyaz Kadumbu, leaders Haneef Muloor, Nooruddin Mallaru, Firoz Kanchinadka, Thoufeeq Uchila, Majeed Uchila, Ibrahim Kanchinadka and others under Sections 57, 189(2), 189(3), 281, 285 and 190 of the BNS.

About 75 to 100 people commenced a procession --without obtaining permission -- in cars and two-wheelers shouting slogans. They caused inconvenience to the vehicles moving on the national highway, police said. 

The jatha, which was launched in Udupi on December 10, is expected to cover Dakshina Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Davanagere, Haveri, Koppal, Bagalkote, Hubballi, Dharwad and reach Belagavi on December 16.