🔗 Share this article

Israel's top security body has formally approved the recognition of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, representing a continued push for settlement expansion.

Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler who proposed the move together with Defence Minister Israel Katz, stated that the decision was aimed at preventing the establishment of a sovereign Palestine.

It is important to note that Israeli settlements in the disputed territories are viewed as illegal.

The announcement has drawn criticism from Saudi Arabia. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that Israel's "relentless" growth of communities heightens tensions, curtails Palestinian access to territory, and threatens the viability of a sovereign Palestine.

Escalating Unrest and Diplomatic Repercussions

Violence in the region has increased sharply since the war in Gaza erupted in the autumn of 2023, intensifying fears that the growth of communities could solidify the Israeli presence and damage the possibility for a peaceful resolution based on two states.

The two-state solution refers to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its seat of government, largely along the borders that were in place before the 1967 Six-Day Middle East war.

Since coming to power in late 2022, the incumbent government in Jerusalem has greatly accelerated the approval of fresh communities and begun the process of legalization for previously illegal outposts, recognising them as "neighbourhoods" of established settlements.

Sustained Expansion

The latest approval pushes the cumulative figure of settlements recognized over the last three years to sixty-nine, per the figures from the Finance Minister.

These decisions arrive only a few days after the United Nations reported that settlement expansion had hit its peak since 2017.

The most recent round of approvals features the re-establishment of a pair of settlements — Ganim and Kadim — which were evacuated nearly in 2005.

In a previous move, the Israeli government approved 22 additional settlements in the occupied West Bank - what was the biggest wave of approvals in decades.

In a related development, the government also approved blueprints in August to construct in excess of three thousand homes in the so-called E1 corridor between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim community, a initiative that had been stalled for many years amid strong international opposition.

At that time, Smotrich remarked it would "bury the concept of a Palestinian state."

Population Facts and Global Response

An estimated 700,000 Israeli settlers live in around 160 communities in the occupied territories, according to the Israel-based monitoring organization Peace Now. This is land that the Palestinian people envision for a prospective sovereign nation.

Settlement expansion has provoked neighboring countries who have steadfastly contended it erodes chances for a peaceful two-state outcome.

It has also fueled anxieties about the potential annexing of the disputed territories.

Ex- US President Donald Trump had previously cautioned the Israeli leadership about such a move, telling a publication that Israel would forfeit its backing from the United States if it proceeded.

In a diplomatic shift, the United Kingdom - joined by other nations such as Australia and Canada - recognised a Palestinian state, a significant although primarily ceremonial adjustment in official stance.

The Israeli government opposed this step, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring that a Palestinian state "is not going to occur."