🔗 Share this article

Israel's defense cabinet has voted to recognize the formalization of nineteen fresh communities in the disputed Palestinian territories, representing a sustained campaign for community development.

Hardline Treasury Chief Bezalel Smotrich, a settler who advocated for the step alongside Defence Minister Israel Katz, stated that the approval was aimed at preventing the establishment of a sovereign Palestine.

Under international law, Jewish communities in the occupied West Bank are considered in violation of international law.

The decision has elicited condemnation from Saudi Arabia. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has previously stated that Israel's "relentless" growth of communities fuels tensions, limits Palestinian use of territory, and threatens the prospects of a sovereign Palestinian state.

Rising Tensions and Political Fallout

Clashes in the occupied West Bank has escalated since the hostilities in Gaza began in the autumn of 2023, intensifying fears that settlement expansion could entrench the Israeli presence and damage the chance for a peaceful resolution based on two states.

The concept of two states involves the formation of a State of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem's eastern sector as its capital, largely along the borders that existed prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Since taking office in late 2022, the present government in Jerusalem has greatly accelerated the approval of fresh communities and started the process of legalization for informal outposts, designating them as "extensions" of existing settlements.

A Pattern of Growth

The latest decision takes the overall count of settlements approved over the past three years to sixty-nine, as stated by Minister Smotrich.

These decisions arrive a short time after the UN reported that settlement expansion had hit its peak since 2017.

The newest group of approvals includes the re-establishment of a pair of settlements — Ganim and Kadim — which were dismantled nearly 20 years ago.

In a previous move, the Israeli government authorized twenty-two additional communities in the territories - labeled as the most significant expansion in many years.

In a related development, the Israeli government gave the go-ahead for plans last summer to erect in excess of 3,000 housing units in the controversial E1 corridor between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim community, a plan that had been stalled for many years amid intense international objection.

On that occasion, the Finance Minister said it would "bury the notion of a Palestinian state."

Population Facts and Global Reactions

Approximately 700,000 settlers reside in about 160 communities in the occupied territories, according to the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now. This is territory that the Palestinian people envision for a future independent state.

Settlement expansion has provoked Arab nations who have consistently said it undermines chances for a two-state solution.

It has also sparked anxieties about the eventual formal annexation of the occupied West Bank.

Ex- American President Donald Trump had previously warned the Israeli leadership about annexation, stating to TIME magazine that Israel would forfeit all its support from the United States if it proceeded.

Recently, the United Kingdom - together with other nations including Australia and Canada - formally recognized a State of Palestine, a significant although largely symbolic change in government policy.

The Israeli government opposed this recognition, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserting that a sovereign Palestine "will not happen."