AhlulBayt News Agency: On Sunday, the Israeli occupation government approved the establishment of 19 new settlements in the West Bank, further accelerating settlement expansion. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich hailed the move as “historic,” bringing the total number of settlements approved in the past three years to 69.
Smotrich’s office announced that the ministerial security cabinet endorsed a proposal submitted by Smotrich and Army Minister Yisrael Katz to “approve and regulate” 19 new settlements, describing them as sites of “high strategic importance,” especially in the northern West Bank. The decision also includes the re-establishment of Ganim and Kadim, which had previously been dismantled.
Just days earlier, Smotrich had approved a plan to build a new settlement city east of occupied Jerusalem, with about 3,380 housing units. Israel’s Channel 7 reported that the city will be named “Mishmar Yehuda,” part of what Smotrich described on X as “strengthening control over the area and protecting Jerusalem from the eastern side.”
These actions reflect the policy of Israel’s far-right government, which continues expanding settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, ignoring international resolutions that deem settlements built on land occupied in 1967 illegal. The UN Security Council has repeatedly urged Israel to halt settlement activity.
The rapid expansion has fragmented Palestinian geography in the West Bank, isolating cities and towns, while many settlements were established earlier without official authorization. Around 2.7 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, considered central to Palestinian aspirations for an independent state.
Since the “disengagement” plan, dozens of settlement outposts have been built in the northern West Bank and elsewhere. This trend has sharply increased since October 7, 2023, under the cover of the war on Gaza.
Despite restrictions in the “Disengagement” Law, these outposts have created a “pincer” around the northern West Bank. In May 2023, an amendment to the law and a military order canceled its application in the northern West Bank.
In May 2024, directives from then–Army Minister Yoav Gallant canceled the law’s application in remaining northern areas, and the occupation army declared the region a “closed military zone.”
Although full legal regularization may take years, the latest decision paves the way for settlers’ gradual return under army protection, with legalization procedures to follow, as has been customary in the West Bank.
Data show that since the current government took office, the cabinet has approved settlement outpost regularization three times: nine outposts in February 2023, five in June 2024, and 22 in May 2025.
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