Israel has approved the largest expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank since the 1993 Oslo Accords, with 22 new settlements authorized this week, according to the watchdog group Peace Now.
The decision, announced in a joint statement by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, includes legalizing 12 unauthorized outposts, building nine entirely new settlements, and converting one neighborhood into a standalone settlement.
“All the new communities are being established... to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state,” the ministers said.
Peace Now condemned the move as part of Israel’s “de facto annexation” of the West Bank, saying the government “no longer pretends otherwise.” The settlements are widely considered illegal under international law.
