Israel’s security cabinet approved the establishment of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move the country’s far-right finance minister said yesterday was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The decision brings the total number of settlements approved over the past three years to 69, according to a statement from the office of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The latest approvals come days after the United Nations said the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank – all of which are 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 formalise 19 new settlements in Judea and Samaria has been approved by the cabinet,” the statement said, without specifying when the decision was taken.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has recently condemned what he described as Israel’s “relentless” expansion of settlements in the occupied territory.
It “continues to fuel tensions, impede access by Palestinians to 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 proliferated, with several European countries, Canada and Australia recently moving to formally recognise such a state, drawing rebukes from Israel.
A UN report said the expansion of settlements was at its highest point since 2017, when the United Nations began tracking such data.
“These figures represent a sharp increase compared to previous years,” Guterres said, noting an average of 12,815 housing units were added annually between 2017 and 2022.
“These developments are further entrenching the unlawful Israeli occupation and violating international law and undermining the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.”
Excluding east Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, along with about three million Palestinian residents.
&uuid=(email))