Israel approves 19 new settlements in occupied West Bank
Widely considered illegal under international law, the plans bring the number of new settlements over the past few years to 69, a new record
Israel has dealt a fresh blow to plans for a future Palestinian state by approving 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
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Widely considered illegal under international law, the plans bring the number of new settlements over the past few years to 69, a new record.
Critics say the settlements fragment the territory of a proposed Palestinian state by confiscating land and displacing residents.
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Under Israel's far-right government, the number of settlements in the West Bank has surged by close to 50 per cent.
Figures from anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now show this number has risen from 141 in 2022 to 210 with the new approvals.
The government's latest move retrospectively approves several existing outposts and settlement neighbourhoods, as well as new settlements built on land from which Palestinians were displaced.
Kadim and Ganim, two of the four settlements dismantled in 2005, have now been approved as part of the plans, despite a previous ban on Israelis re-entering these areas as part of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Israel has attempted multiple times to resettle its people in areas that were previously evacuated under the 2005 law, after it repealed the act in March 2023.
It comes as the US faces mounting pressure to begin the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which took effect on October 10.
Several prominent figures in Israel's government back the settlements, including Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich.
He said the decision was part of Tel Aviv's plan to block the establishment of a Palestinian state, which undermines the two-state solution.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said Israel's "relentless" settlement expansion fuels tensions, restricts Palestinian access to land, and threatens the viability of a sovereign Palestinian state.
The West Bank, east Jerusalem, and Gaza are claimed by the Palestinians for their future state, but were captured by Israel in the 1967 war.
Today over 500,000 Jews are settled in the West Bank, in addition to over 200,000 in contested east Jerusalem.