Israel Gantz

Israeli annexation of the West Bank has remained a dream for settlers like Sondra, despite the world court and most countries viewing Israel's occupation as illegal. So what happens to Palestinians who say, I don't want to live under Israeli sovereignty?

Israel Gantz, head of the Regional Settlement Council that oversees Qarnay Shamron, says he's already noticed a change in tone from the incoming administration.

President Biden was very clear, very public. Even after the 7th of October, he stuck to the same policy of the two-state solution. Are you hearing something different now? Yes.

In Donald Trump's first term as president, he broke with U.S. policy and international consensus by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights. The man he's nominated as ambassador to Israel now, Mike Huckabee, has voiced strong support for settlements.

But there's a good chance that Israelis lobbying for annexation, some of them in cabinet positions, might be disappointed in Trump's decisions. Supporting annexation could alienate Washington's other key ally, Saudi Arabia, complicating Mr Trump's chances for a wider regional deal. Mohib Salameh says no American president has ever protected Palestinians and that Donald Trump won't either.

Mohib's family home, built on private Palestinian land, was ruled illegal by an Israeli court last year and demolished. Israel controls planning laws in 60% of the West Bank, and while settlements are expanding, permits for Palestinian homes are almost never granted.

Palestinians are also increasingly being forced off their land by violent Israeli settlers, many of whom were sanctioned by the US and UK, but left unchallenged by Israeli police and courts at home. Israel's government has long denied that its settlements are illegal and it sees Donald Trump as a friend. But America's next president is also a man who likes closing deals and avoiding conflicts.

That report by Lucy Williamson.

On a hilltop viewpoint above the Israeli settlement of Karni Shomron, an audio guide sets out Jewish claims to the occupied West Bank, known to settlers as Judea and Sumeria.

Sandra Baras has lived in Qarnay Shamran for 40 years. Since then, the population has grown to more than 11,000 and settlements across the West Bank have mushroomed. Now many here see an opportunity to go further. I was thrilled that Trump won.