🔗 Share this article

Israel's defense cabinet has given its endorsement to the recognition of nineteen additional outposts in the disputed Palestinian territories, marking a sustained drive for settlement expansion.

Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in a settlement and put forward the move together with Defence Minister Israel Katz, declared that the decision was about blocking the creation of a sovereign Palestine.

According to global statutes, Jewish communities in the disputed territories are viewed as illegal.

The decision has sparked censure from Saudi Arabia. The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has said that Israel's "unceasing" growth of communities exacerbates tensions, curtails Palestinian access to territory, and undermines the feasibility of a sovereign Palestine.

Escalating Unrest and Political Repercussions

Violence in the region has escalated since the hostilities in Gaza started in October 2023, adding to apprehensions that the growth of communities could deepen Israel's occupation and undermine the chance for a two-state solution.

The two-state solution refers to the establishment of a Palestinian state in the Palestinian territories, with Jerusalem's eastern sector as its seat of government, largely along the lines that existed before the 1967 Middle East war.

Upon assuming leadership in 2022, the current Israeli government has significantly increased the green-lighting of new settlements and started the formal recognition for unauthorised outposts, classifying them as "suburbs" of established communities.

Sustained Growth

The latest approval takes the cumulative figure of settlements approved over the last three years to 69, as stated by the Finance Minister.

These authorizations are announced only a few days after the United Nations stated that construction in settlements had hit its highest level since the year 2017.

The newest batch of approvals encompasses the rebuilding of two communities — Ganim and Kadim — which were removed almost 20 years ago.

In a previous move, Israel approved twenty-two additional settlements in the territories - what was the most significant wave of approvals in decades.

In a related development, the Israeli government gave the go-ahead for projects last summer to construct more than 3,000 residences in the controversial E1 corridor between the capital and the Maale Adumim settlement, a initiative that had been stalled for many years amid fierce international opposition.

On that occasion, the Finance Minister said it would "bury the concept of a Palestinian state."

Demographic Facts and International Response

Roughly seven hundred thousand Israeli settlers reside in approximately 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 aspire to have for a prospective independent state.

Settlement expansion has provoked Arab states who have repeatedly contended it harms chances for a two-state solution.

It has also raised anxieties about the possible incorporation of the disputed territories.

Former US President Donald Trump had previously cautioned the Israeli leadership about this step, telling TIME magazine that the country would forfeit its backing from the US if it proceeded.

In a policy change, the UK - together with other countries such as Australia and Canada - acknowledged a Palestinian state, a major although largely symbolic adjustment in foreign policy.

Israel was against this recognition, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that a Palestinian state "will not happen."