Decision takes the total number of new settlements to 69 in past few years as construction binge continues
Israel has approved a proposal for 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank as the government pushes ahead with a construction binge in the territory that poses a further threat to the possibility of a Palestinian state.
It brings the total number of new settlements over the past few years to 69, a new record, according to the far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who has pushed a settlement expansion agenda in the West Bank. The latest include two that were previously evacuated during a 2005 disengagement plan.
The approval by the security cabinet increases the number of settlements in the West Bank by nearly 50% during the current government’s tenure. In 2022, there were 141 settlements across the West Bank. After the latest approval there are 210, according to Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group.
Settlements are considered illegal under international law.
