Israel Approves Construction of 22 New Illegal Settlements in West Bank
The settlements are all situated “deep in areas slated for a Palestinian state,” according to the Israeli settlement watchdog, Peace Now.
The Israeli government has approved the construction of 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, the Defense Ministry confirmed on Thursday.
The announcement follows a security cabinet vote held in secret last week, according to media reports, after a motion was said to have been put forward by the far-right Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Israeli cabinet approves 22 new settlements in the West Bank—the largest expansion since Oslo.
12 outposts to be legalized
All deep in areas slated for a Palestinian state.
https://t.co/ITgtw46raK
— Peace Now (@peacenowisrael) May 29, 2025
In a statement, the Defense Ministry called the cabinet’s decision “a step that will change the face of the area and shape the future of settlement for years to come,” the Times of Israel reported.
“The new settlements are all placed within a long-term strategic vision, whose goal is to strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory, to avoid the establishment of a Palestinian state, and to create the basis for future development of settlement in the coming decades,” the ministry reportedly said.
Illegal Outposts
The approval includes the legalisation of outposts already built without government approval as well as two settlements in the northern West Bank that were evacuated in 2005 alongside Israeli troops’ withdrawal from Gaza.
Since then, there have been repeated efforts to establish settlers there, “and last year the law forbidding Israelis from entering the area was repealed,” the report noted.
On 21 April 2025, Israeli settlers set up a new outpost on a hill belonging to the Palestinian town of Sinjil, in Ramallah District. When residents came to protest, settlers attacked them with stones and live fire, chased them into the town, torched tents a family lived in, stole… pic.twitter.com/t4C2erikff
— B’Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) May 29, 2025
Katz called the move a “historic decision” that would “strengthen our hold on Judea and Samaria,” using the biblical reference for the West Bank.
Smotrich, who lives in an illegal settlement, reportedly called the move a “big day for settlement and an important day for the State of Israel.”
‘Largest since Oslo’
The approval of the settlements, considered illegal under international law, is “the largest expansion since Oslo,” with all situated “deep in areas slated for a Palestinian state,” the Israeli settlement watchdog, Peace Now, said on Thursday.
The organization said “12 of them are existing outposts that will be legalized, one will be recognized as an independent settlement, and 9 are entirely new settlements.”
Tel Aviv Threatens Retaliatory Annexation if Palestine Gains Recognition
“The cabinet’s decision to establish 22 new settlements—the most extensive move of its kind since the Oslo Accords, under which Israel committed not to establish new settlements—will dramatically reshape the West Bank and entrench the occupation even further,” Peace Now said in a statement.
“At a time when both the Israeli public and the entire world is demanding an immediate end to the war, the government is making clear—again and without restraint—that it prefers deepening the occupation and advancing de facto annexation over pursuing peace,” the statement added.
‘Largest Since Oslo’
According to a report released by Peace Now, Israel approved last year the largest seizure of land in the West Bank in more than three decades.
Israel to Use ‘Absentee Property Law’ to Authorize 1,900 New Settlement Units
“On June 25, 2024, the Custodian of the State’s Property in the Civil Administration declared 12,700 dunams at the Jordan Valley state lands,” Peace Now said in the report, noting that the size of the area “designated for declaration is the largest since the Oslo Accords.”
Condemnation
The British minister for the Middle East on Thursday condemned the Israeli government’s approval of the new illegal settlements.
“The Israeli government’s approval of 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank is a deliberate obstacle to Palestinian statehood,” Hamish Falconer said in a post on X.
“The UK condemns these actions. Settlements are illegal under international law, further imperil the two state solution, and do not protect Israel,” he added.
The Israeli government’s approval of 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank is a deliberate obstacle to Palestinian statehood.
The UK condemns these actions. Settlements are illegal under international law, further imperil the two state solution, and do not protect Israel.
— Hamish Falconer MP (@HFalconerMP) May 29, 2025
The International Court of Justice declared last July that Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Anadolu news agency reported.
According to Palestinian figures, cited by the Anadolu, illegal settlers staged 341 attacks against Palestinians and their properties in the West Bank last month
(PC, Anadolu)
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