Israel’s Cabinet approved 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Sunday, accelerating construction that undermines the prospects of a Palestinian state.
The approval raises the number of settlements from 141 in 2022 to 210, nearly a 50% increase under the current government. The Cabinet decision, made Dec. 11 and recently declassified, includes retroactive legalization of outposts and the creation of settlements on land cleared of Palestinians.
Two of the settlements, Kadim and Ganim, were dismantled in 2005 during Israel’s Gaza withdrawal, with attempts to resettle them following a 2023 law repeal. The expansion comes as the U.S. pushes Israel and Hamas to advance the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which envisions a potential Palestinian state.
