The number of settlements in the occupied West Bank rose by almost 50% under the current far-right Israeli government. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, DW reports.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday that the Israeli Cabinet had approved the establishment of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank.
As part of his official role in the Ministry of Defense, Smotrich overseas the Administration for Settlement Affairs, a government entity established in 2023 to manage civilian matters in the West Bank's settlements, including approving construction requests.
The list of approvals includes two West Bank villages evacuated by Israel as part of the 2005 Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip.
Left-wing Israeli watchdog Peace Now said the newly approved settlements also include areas where Israel had not previously had a presence, while others are to be built in densely populated Palestinian areas, as well as sites where Palestinian communities have been expelled.
"We will continue to develop, build, and settle the land of our ancestral heritage, with faith in the justice of our path," Smotrich posted on his X account.
According to Smotrich, the Israeli government is "stopping the establishment" of a Palestinian state, which he labels a "terror state," through creating facts on the ground.
