🔗 Share this article

Israel's security cabinet has given its endorsement to the establishment of nineteen fresh outposts in the occupied West Bank, marking a continued drive for settlement expansion.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in a settlement and advocated for the move alongside Defense Chief Israel Katz, declared that the decision was about thwarting the establishment of a sovereign Palestine.

Under international law, Jewish communities in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal.

The move has elicited censure from Saudi Arabia. The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has said that Israel's "relentless" settlement expansion exacerbates frictions, limits Palestinian access to land, and jeopardizes the prospects of a sovereign Palestine.

Increased Tensions and Diplomatic Repercussions

Clashes in the occupied West Bank has surged since the conflict in Gaza started in October 2023, further heightening apprehensions that the growth of communities could deepen the Israeli presence and undermine the prospects for a peaceful resolution based on two states.

The two-state solution refers to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the Palestinian territories, with East Jerusalem as its seat of government, broadly along the lines that were in place before the 1967 Six-Day Arab-Israeli war.

Since taking office in late 2022, the present Israeli government has greatly accelerated the approval of new settlements and started the process of legalization for unauthorised settler outposts, recognising them as "suburbs" of established settlements.

Ongoing Growth

The latest approval takes the cumulative figure of communities approved over the last three years to sixty-nine, per the figures from the Finance Minister.

These authorizations are announced a short time after the United Nations said that construction in settlements had attained its highest level since the year 2017.

The newest group of approvals features the rebuilding of two settlements — Ganim and Kadim — which were dismantled almost 20 years ago.

Earlier this year, Israel authorized 22 additional communities in the occupied West Bank - described as the largest wave of approvals in many years.

Additionally, the Israeli government also approved plans in August to construct in excess of three thousand housing units in the controversial E1 corridor between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement, a project that had been frozen for decades amid intense international condemnation.

Regarding that plan, Smotrich said it would "put to rest the notion of a Palestinian state."

Demographic Facts and Global Response

Roughly 700,000 settlers dwell in about one hundred and sixty settlements in the occupied territories, according to the Israeli monitoring organization Peace Now. This is territory that Palestinians seek for a future sovereign nation.

Settlement expansion has angered Arab nations who have repeatedly contended it harms prospects for a two-state solution.

It has also fueled concerns about the possible annexing of the disputed territories.

Ex- US President Donald Trump had once cautioned Israel about this step, telling a publication that the country would forfeit its backing from the United States if it occurred.

In a diplomatic shift, the UK - joined by other countries including Australia and Canada - acknowledged a State of Palestine, a significant although primarily ceremonial change in official stance.

The Israeli government strongly rejected this recognition, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that a Palestinian state "is off the table."