Israel approves 22 settlements in the West Bank and expands illegal occupation

The far right government led by Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (29) the creation of 22 new Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The approval was confirmed by the Ministry of Defense after a secret vote in the Security Office last week.

The measure includes the legalization of advanced posts already erected without official authorization and was presented as a strategic step in consolidating dominance over the region and preventing the formation of a Palestinian state.

The decision was proposed by ministers Bezalel Smotrich (Finance) and Israel Katz (Defense), both advocates of the formal attachment of the West Bank.

Smotrich, who lives in a settlement considered illegal by international law, celebrated what he called “a great day to the state of Israel.” Katz stated that the settlements “strengthen our control over Judea and Samaria,” a biblical name for the West Bank, and represent “an overwhelming response to Palestinian terrorism.”

Among the new approved communities are the settlements of Homesh and SA-NUR, evacuated during the removal of Israel from the Gaza Strip in 2005. Last year, the law that prohibited Israelis from entering these areas was revoked, paving the way for reoccupation.

The Ministry of Defense celebrated theft of land as “a correction of a historical injustice.”

In addition, four new settlements will be built along the Jordan border, reinforcing Israeli control of the so -called “eastern axis” of the territory. One of the explicit objectives of the measure is to consolidate Israel’s military and civil presence along Route 443, which connects Jerusalem to Tel Aviv through Modin.

The Likud Party of the Netanyahu Premier has classified approval as a “unique decision in a generation”, with the potential to permanently alter the territorial configuration of the West Bank.

Smotrich defends annexation and wants another 500,000 settlers in the region

The measure is part of a broader plan coordinated by Smotrich, which had already announced in 2023 the intention of installing another 500,000 settlers in the West Bank.

In a hollow recording released by the NGO Peace Now, the minister stated that the land confiscations made by Israel in 2024 exceeded the average of previous years. He defined the strategy as “something megaestrategic” that “will change the map dramatically.”

Between January and March 2025, the number of housing units promoted in the region exceeded the total of the entire previous year, totaling more than 10,500 new houses in Israeli settlements.

The approval of this new wave of 22 settlements was described by Peace Now as the “greatest at once” ever recorded since Oslo’s agreements in 1993.

Smotrich openly defended the attachment of the West Bank as a personal mission and stated, “We do not take a foreign land, but the inheritance of our ancestors.”

Palestinians denounce climbing and warn to end the solution of two states

The decision generated immediate reactions of Palestinian leadership and international organizations. Palestinian presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh classified the measure as “a dangerous climb” and “a challenge to international legitimacy.”

He recalled that the action violates resolution 2334 of the UN Security Council and “all international resolutions”, reaffirming that all Israeli settlements are illegal.

Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas’s leader, said the announcement “is part of the war led by Netanyahu against the Palestinian people” and urged the United States and the European Union to intervene.

The NG NOW NGO warned that “settlements are strangling the Palestinian communities” and making “almost impossible in practice the creation of a viable Palestinian state.” Al Jazeera said that Israel is using the distraction of public opinion with the war in Gaza to “consolidate its occupation” in the West Bank.

The measure arrives a few days before the international conference organized by France and Saudi Arabia in the UN, with the aim of trying to reactivate the peace process and the proposal of two states.