Israel's security cabinet has formally approved the creation of 19 additional settlements in the occupied West Bank, a significant escalation announced on December 21, 2025, that Israeli officials explicitly described as a strategic measure to forestall any possibility of establishing a Palestinian state in the territory. This decision, championed by far-right figures within the government, reflects ongoing efforts to consolidate control over areas referred to by Israeli authorities as Judea and Samaria.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a leading proponent of settlement expansion and a resident of a West Bank settlement himself, hailed the approvals as essential for securing what he termed the ancestral homeland. The new settlements are positioned in locations deemed highly strategic, including the re-establishment of two communities—Ganim and Kadim in the northern West Bank—that were dismantled during Israel's 2005 disengagement from Gaza and parts of the West Bank two decades earlier.

Among the 19 approvals, five involve the retroactive legalization of existing outposts that previously lacked official status under Israeli domestic law, a common practice that has drawn criticism for gradually formalizing unauthorized constructions. With this latest batch, the total number of settlements authorized by the current administration over the past three years has reached 69, marking a substantial acceleration in expansion activities.

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The timing of these approvals follows closely a United Nations assessment reporting that Israeli settlement growth in the West Bank has surged to its highest recorded levels since systematic tracking began in 2017. The UN has consistently classified all Israeli settlements in the occupied territory as violations of international law, warning that such developments deepen the occupation and erode prospects for a two-state solution.

International condemnation has been swift and pointed, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denouncing the relentless expansion as a direct threat to Palestinian self-determination and regional stability, particularly amid escalating violence in the West Bank since the onset of the Gaza conflict in October 2023. The moves have heightened tensions, occurring against a backdrop of increased Palestinian casualties and growing global calls, including recognitions of Palestinian statehood by several countries, for a resolution to the longstanding conflict.

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