'Israel' moves to establish 19 new settlements in West Bank

• 'Israeli' cabinet authorizes 19 new settlements, including evacuated sites from 2005.
• Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says the move aims to block a Palestinian state.

‘Israel’ has approved the establishment of 19 new settlements in West Bank, in one of the broadest settlement expansion moves in recent years, according to a statement issued by ‘Israeli’ Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Smotrich, who also oversees the settlement file, said the political-security cabinet approved both the creation of new settlements and the legal regularization of existing outposts, describing the policy as “record-breaking and unprecedented” over the past three years.

Reinstating evacuated settlements

Among the approved sites are the settlements of ‘Ganim’ and ‘Kadim’, which were evacuated in 2005 under ‘Israel’s’ disengagement plan. The decision also covers several existing settlement outposts and others at advanced stages of construction, particularly in the northern West Bank.

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‘Israeli’ media described the move as one of the largest single steps toward legalizing settlement outposts in recent years, significantly expanding ‘Israeli’ control across large swathes of the occupied territory.

Explicit aim to block Palestinian statehood

Smotrich made clear that the decision serves a political goal of preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“The steps being taken on the ground are intended to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian terror state”, he said, adding that the policy reflects what he described as “simple, correct, and moral Zionism”.

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The remarks align with repeated statements by senior figures in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government rejecting Palestinian statehood and accelerating settlement activity as a matter of ideology and security.

Record legalization drive

The Netanyahu government has legalized or regularized the status of 69 settlement outposts over the past three years, calling it an unprecedented achievement, according to Smotrich.

This process involves retroactively approving outposts built without formal authorization and integrating them into official settlement frameworks, a practice that has drawn sharp criticism from Palestinians and the international community.

Broader political context

The latest approvals come amid indications of an undeclared early election campaign within Netanyahu’s political bloc, with settlement expansion increasingly used to mobilize the far-right base.

The move is expected to deepen tensions in the occupied West Bank, where Palestinians face escalating settler violence, land seizures, and movement restrictions, alongside ongoing ‘Israeli’ operations.

Under international law, settlements in occupied territory are considered illegal. Despite this, ‘Israel’ has continued to expand settlements, a policy widely seen as undermining the possibility of a viable Palestinian state and entrenching long-term occupation.