Israel’s security cabinet has approved 19 more settlements in the occupied West Bank, bringing the number granted permission the past three years to 69.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler himself, revealed the latest proposal had been passed after pushing it through the cabinet. Mr Smotrich openly says the new settlements will prevent a Palestinian state from establishing itself, something critics also decry. The 19 include two from which Israel withdrew in 2005.
Most world powers deem Israeli settlements on land it captured in a 1967 war illegal, and several UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity. Israel disputes the view that such outposts are unlawful and cites biblical and historical ties to the land.
“The proposal by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz to declare and formalise 19 new settlements in Judea and Samaria has been approved by the cabinet,” a statement from Mr Smotrich’s office read.
“On the ground, we are blocking the establishment of a Palestinian terror state,” Mr Smotrich said. “We will continue to develop, build and settle the land of our ancestral heritage, with faith in the justice of our path.
“We continue to make history in settlement and in the State of Israel.” He said that within three years, Israel has regulated 69 new settlements, describing it as “a record like no other”.
Arab countries condemned the move last week after reports emerged of the plan to approve the settlements. The UAE said the step “constitutes a dangerous escalation and a blatant violation of international law, and undermines efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the region”.
Egypt said approval to legalise and establish the new settlements “constitutes a blatant violation of international law and relevant decisions of international legitimacy”.
“Egypt reiterates its total rejection of all forms of settlement expansion, which it regards as a major impediment to achieving a two-state solution and to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” the Foreign Ministry in Cairo said.
Qatar described the approval as “a flagrant violation of international legitimacy resolutions, particularly United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, and a blatant infringement on the rights of the Palestinian people.”
Saudi Arabia called on the international community to assume its responsibilities “to end these violations”.
The West Bank is home to 2.7 million Palestinians who have limited self-rule under Israeli military occupation. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have settled there.
Construction of settlements, including some built without official Israeli authorisation, has increased under Israel’s far-right governing coalition, fragmenting the West Bank and cutting off Palestinian towns and cities from each other.
The 19 settlements include two from which Israel withdrew in 2005, evacuated under a disengagement plan overseen by former prime minister Ariel Sharon that focused mainly on Gaza.
Under the plan, which was opposed by the settler movement at the time, all 21 Israeli settlements in Gaza were ordered to be evacuated. Most settlements in the occupied West Bank were unaffected.