🔗 Share this article

The nation's defense cabinet has given its endorsement to the establishment of 19 fresh communities in the occupied West Bank, signaling a ongoing campaign for community development.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler who advocated for the move together with Defense Chief Israel Katz, stated that the decision was aimed at blocking the creation of a Palestinian state.

It is important to note that Jewish communities in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal.

The announcement has sparked condemnation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has said that Israel's "persistent" growth of communities heightens frictions, curtails Palestinians' access to land, and undermines the viability of a independent Palestine.

Rising Tensions and Diplomatic Fallout

Clashes in the occupied West Bank has surged since the war in Gaza erupted in the autumn of 2023, further heightening apprehensions that settlement expansion could solidify the Israeli presence and weaken the prospects for a two-state solution.

The concept of two states envisions the establishment of a State of Palestine in the Palestinian territories, with East Jerusalem as its seat of government, largely along the boundaries that existed before the 1967 Six-Day Middle East war.

Upon assuming leadership in 2022, the present Israeli government has ramped up the green-lighting of fresh communities and initiated the formal recognition for informal settler outposts, classifying them as "neighbourhoods" of established communities.

Sustained Growth

The latest approval takes the total number of communities authorized over the past three years to sixty-nine, according to the Finance Minister.

These authorizations come just days after the United Nations said that construction in settlements had attained its highest level since 2017.

The latest round of approvals includes the rebuilding of a pair of communities — Ganim and Kadim — which were dismantled nearly two decades ago.

In a previous move, the Israeli government approved twenty-two additional settlements in the occupied West Bank - labeled as the biggest expansion in decades.

Furthermore, the Israeli government sanctioned projects in August to construct over three thousand residences in the so-called E1 corridor between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim community, a initiative that had been on hold for decades amid strong foreign objection.

At that time, Smotrich remarked it would "bury the notion of a Palestinian state."

Demographic Facts and International Reactions

An estimated seven hundred thousand settlers live in about 160 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as per data from the Israel-based anti-settlement group Peace Now. This is territory that the Palestinian people seek for a future sovereign nation.

This ongoing construction has angered Arab nations who have consistently contended it harms prospects for a peaceful two-state outcome.

It has furthermore raised concerns about the possible incorporation of the disputed territories.

Former US President Donald Trump had once admonished the Israeli leadership about annexation, telling TIME magazine that the country would forfeit all its support from the US if it happened.

In a diplomatic shift, the UK - along with other nations such as Australia and Canada - recognised a State of Palestine, a major although largely symbolic shift in official stance.

Israel was against this recognition, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserting that a sovereign Palestine "will not happen."