Israel’s security cabinet has approved 19 new settlements in the West Bank

Israel’s security cabinet has approved the establishment of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move the country’s far-right finance minister said Sunday is aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The decision brings the total number of settlements approved in the past three years to 69, according to a statement from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s office.

The latest approvals come days after the United Nations said the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank – all considered illegal under international law – had reached its highest level since at least 2017.

“The proposal by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz to declare and formalize 19 new settlements in Judea and Samaria has been approved by the cabinet,” the statement said, without specifying when the decision was made.

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Smotrich is a staunch supporter of settlement expansion and a settler himself.

“On the ground, we are preventing the creation of a Palestinian state of terror,” he said in the statement.

“We will continue to develop, build and populate the land of our ancestral heritage, faithful to the righteousness of our path.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently condemned what he described as Israel’s “relentless” settlement expansion in the occupied territories.

“It continues to fuel tensions, prevent Palestinians from accessing their land and threaten the viability of a fully independent, democratic, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian State,” he said earlier this month.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state have multiplied, with several European countries, Canada and Australia recently moving to formally recognize such a state, prompting rebukes from Israel.

“Surge”

A UN report said settlement expansion was at its highest point since 2017, when the United Nations began tracking such data.

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“These figures represent a sharp increase compared to previous years,” Guterres said, noting that an average of 12,815 housing units were added annually between 2017 and 2022.

“These developments further entrench the illegal Israeli occupation and violate international law and undermine the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.”

Excluding east Jerusalem, which was captured and annexed by Israel in 1967, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, along with approximately three million Palestinian residents.

Smotrich’s office said the 19 newly approved settlements were in what it described as “highly strategic” areas, adding that two of them – Ganim and Kadim in the northern West Bank – would be rehabilitated after being uprooted two decades ago.

Five of the 19 settlements already existed but had not previously been granted legal status under Israeli law, the statement said.

While all Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory are considered illegal under international law, some wildcat outposts are also illegal in the eyes of the Israeli government.

Many of these, however, are later legalized by Israeli authorities, fueling fears of possible annexation of the territory.

US President Donald Trump has warned Israel against annexing the West Bank.

“Israel would lose all its support from the United States if that happened,” Trump said in a recent interview with Time magazine.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and violence there has soared since the Gaza war broke out in October 2023.

Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,027 Palestinians in the West Bank — both fighters and civilians — since fighting in Gaza began, according to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry.

At least 44 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations during the same period, according to Israeli figures.