Israel’s security Cabinet approves 19 new settlements in West Bank
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Israeli soldiers during a weekly settlers’ tour on Oct 20 in Hebro, in the Israel-occupied West Bank.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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JERUSALEM – 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 on Dec 21 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 Defence 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.
Mr Smotrich is a vocal proponent of settlement expansion and a settler himself.
“On the ground, we are blocking the establishment of a Palestinian terror state,” he said in the statement. “We will continue to develop, build and settle the land of our ancestral heritage, with faith in the justice of our path.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has 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 in December.
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.
‘Sharp increase’
A UN report said the expansion of settlements was at its highest point since 2017, when the UN began tracking such data.
“These figures represent a sharp increase compared with previous years,” Mr 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
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.
Mr Smotrich’s office said the 19 newly approved settlements are located in what it describes as “highly strategic” areas, adding that two of them – Ganim and Kadim in the northern West Bank – would be re-established after being dismantled 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 in the 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 legalised by the Israeli authorities, fuelling fears about the possible annexation of the territory.
US President Donald Trump has warned Israel
“Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened,” Mr Trump said in a recent interview to Time magazine.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence there has soared since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,027 Palestinians in the West Bank – both militants and civilians – since the start of the fighting in Gaza.
At least 44 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations during the same period. AFP
