Announced days after UK and European sanctions on settlements, Israel’s expansion of Mishmar Yehuda folds an illegal outpost into a planned city between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, advancing Israel’s decades-old plan to cut the West Bank in half.

After failing to dismantle Hamas, destroy Hezbollah, topple the Iranian government, or redraw the Middle East, Netanyahu and his allies have only one thing left to show for their time in power: the de facto annexation of the West Bank.

Netanyahu officially approved a settlement plan last week and announced his intentions to greenlight other settlements just like it. Together, these plans would end the West Bank as a geographic and political entity.

Israel is constructing tunnels that Palestinians will be required to pass through in the heart of the West Bank, making large parts of the occupied territory accessible only to Israelis. The aim is to remove the Palestinian presence around Jerusalem.