Israel Cabinet Approves 19 New West Bank Settlements

Israel's Cabinet approved the establishment of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, a move announced by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that expands Israeli presence in the territory amid ongoing international concerns over its legality.

The decision, proposed by Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, recognizes eight existing outposts as official settlements and designates 11 additional areas for new construction. Among them are the northern West Bank sites of Ganim and Kadim, which Israel evacuated two decades ago as part of its 2005 disengagement plan from Gaza and four nearby settlements. Smotrich described the approval as correcting a "painful injustice" and bringing the total number of new settlements authorized in recent years to 69. According to the Israeli anti-settlement monitoring group Peace Now, the action increases the overall count of West Bank settlements from 141 in 2022 to 210, marking a significant expansion under the current government.

Settlements in the West Bank, territory captured by Israel during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and claimed by Palestinians for a future state, are considered illegal under international law by most...