A man looks over the Nur al-Shams Refugee Camp, east of Tulkarm city in the occupied West Bank in March, 2025. (Issam Rimawi/Anadolu)
Tel Aviv: Israel’s Cabinet on Sunday approved a proposal for 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, the far-right finance minister said.
The settlements include two that were previously evacuated during a 2005 disengagement plan, according to Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, who has pushed a settlement expansion agenda in the West Bank.
It brings the total number of new settlements over the past two years to 69, Smotrich wrote on X.
The approval increases the number of settlements in the West Bank by nearly 50 per cent during the current government’s tenure, from 141 in 2022 to 210, after the current approval, according to Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group. Settlements are widely considered illegal under international law.
This post was last modified on December 21, 2025 4:58 pm