JAKARTA - The Israeli Security Cabinet has approved the establishment of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move that according to Israeli right-wing ministers on Sunday aims to prevent the formation 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 proposal of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Israeli Defense Minister Katz to declare and inaugurate 19 new settlements in Judea and Samaria has been approved by the cabinet," the statement said, without specifying when the decision was taken, reported Al Arabiya and AFP (22/12).
The latest approval comes days after the United Nations said Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank - all of which are considered illegal under international law - has reached its highest level since at least 2017.
Smotrich is known as a vocal supporter of settlement expansion and also a settler.
"In the field, we are blocking the establishment of a Palestinian state of terror," he said in the statement.
"We will continue to develop, build, and inhabit our ancestral heritage, with faith in the justice of our path," he concluded.
Smotrich's office said the 19 newly approved settlements are located in areas described as "highly strategic" adding two of them - Ganim and Kadim in the northern West Bank - will be rebuilt after being demolished two decades ago.
Five of the 19 settlements already exist but were previously not given legal status under Israeli law, the statement said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently condemned what he described as Israel's "unrelenting" expansion of settlements in the occupied territories.
It "continues to fuel tensions, impede Palestinian access to their land and threaten the viability of a fully independent, democratic, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian state," he said earlier this month.
A U.N. report said settlement expansion is at its highest point since 2017, when the U.N. began tracking the data.
"These figures show a sharp increase compared to previous years," Guterres said, noting that an average of 12,815 housing units were added each year between 2017 and 2022.
"This development further strengthens Israel's occupation, which is illegal and violates international law and undermines the Palestinian people's right to self-determination," he said.
Excluding East Jerusalem, which Israel occupied and annexed in 1967, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, along with some three million Palestinians.
Although all Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory are considered illegal under international law, some of the outposts are also illegal in the eyes of the Israeli government.
However, many of the posts were later legalized by Israeli authorities, sparking concerns about the possibility of annexing the territory.
This week, US President Donald Trump has warned Israel about annexing the West Bank.
"Israel will lose all its support from the United States if that happens," President Trump said in a recent interview with Time Magazine.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence there has escalated sharply since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023 after Hamas attacks on Israel.
Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 1,027 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza fighting, according to AFP calculations based on figures from the Palestinian health ministry.
On the other hand, 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 data.
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