🔗 Share this article

Israel's top security body has voted to recognize the formalization of nineteen fresh settlements in the contested West Bank, marking a sustained drive for community development.

Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in a settlement and advocated for the measure alongside Defence Minister Israel Katz, asserted that the decision was aimed at blocking the creation of a Palestinian state.

It is important to note that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are deemed illegal.

The announcement has sparked criticism from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has commented that Israel's "persistent" growth of communities exacerbates frictions, curtails Palestinians' use of territory, and threatens the feasibility of a independent Palestine.

Escalating Unrest and Diplomatic Repercussions

Violence in the occupied West Bank has surged since the war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023, intensifying concerns that settlement expansion could deepen Israel's occupation and damage the prospects for a peaceful resolution based on two states.

The concept of two states involves the creation of a Palestinian state in the Palestinian territories, with Jerusalem's eastern sector as its seat of government, largely along the borders that were in place before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Since taking office in late 2022, the present Israeli government has significantly increased the approval of new settlements and initiated the process of legalization for unauthorised settler outposts, classifying them as "suburbs" of existing settlements.

Sustained Expansion

The most recent approval brings the cumulative figure of communities approved over the preceding 36 months to sixty-nine, according to Smotrich.

These authorizations arrive just days after the UN said that settlement expansion had hit its highest level since 2017.

The latest group of approvals encompasses the re-establishment of a pair of communities — Ganim and Kadim — which were evacuated nearly in 2005.

Earlier this year, the Israeli government authorized 22 additional communities in the territories - described as the largest wave of approvals in decades.

In a related development, the Israeli government gave the go-ahead for blueprints last summer to build over 3,000 residences in the controversial E1 area between the capital and the Maale Adumim community, a project that had been stalled for decades amid intense foreign condemnation.

On that occasion, the Finance Minister remarked it would "put to rest the idea of a Palestinian state."

Population Realities and International Response

Roughly 700,000 Israeli settlers live in around 160 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as per data from the Israel-based monitoring organization Peace Now. This is territory that the Palestinian people aspire to have for a prospective independent state.

Settlement expansion has angered neighboring countries who have steadfastly contended it erodes prospects for a peaceful two-state outcome.

It has also raised concerns about the potential annexing of the occupied West Bank.

Former US President Donald Trump had once cautioned Israel about this step, telling TIME magazine that the country would lose all its support from the United States if it happened.

In a policy change, the UK - along with other countries including Australia and Canada - acknowledged a Palestinian state, a significant although primarily ceremonial adjustment in government policy.

The Israeli government was against this step, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserting that a sovereign Palestine "is off the table."