Israel plans to double settlement in Golan Heights

MEVO HAMA, Golan Heights (AP) — Israel says it plans to double the amount of settlers living in the Golan Heights and invest hundreds of millions of dollars developing the area. The plan would further consolidate Israel’s hold on the territory it captured from Syria more than five decades ago. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made the announcement Sunday at a special Cabinet session being held in the Golan Heights. The plan comes two years after the Trump administration recognized Israeli sovereignty over the territory. The Biden administration has not challenged that decision. Israel captured and later annexed the Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast war. Most of the international community considers the Golan as Israeli-occupied.