Israel Gives Green Light to Nineteen New Communities in Occupied Palestinian Territories

Israel's security cabinet has given its endorsement to the formalization of 19 additional communities in the disputed West Bank, marking a ongoing drive for community development.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler who advocated for the measure together with Defense Chief Israel Katz, asserted that the decision was intended for preventing the formation of a sovereign Palestine.

It is important to note that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are viewed as illegal.

The decision has sparked criticism from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has previously stated that Israel's "relentless" growth of communities exacerbates frictions, restricts Palestinians' access to territory, and threatens the viability of a independent Palestinian state.

Increased Tensions and Political Fallout

Clashes in the region has increased sharply since the hostilities in Gaza began in the autumn of 2023, intensifying concerns that the growth of communities could entrench the Israeli presence and undermine the prospects for a peaceful resolution based on two states.

The concept of two states envisions the formation of a State of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem's eastern sector as its seat of government, largely along the lines that existed before the 1967 Middle East war.

Since coming to power in 2022, the current Israeli government has significantly increased the approval of new settlements and started the legalisation process for previously illegal settler outposts, designating them as "suburbs" of existing settlements.

A Pattern of Expansion

The most recent decision pushes the cumulative figure of settlements approved over the preceding 36 months to sixty-nine, as stated by the Finance Minister.

These authorizations come a short time after the UN said that settlement expansion had reached its peak since 2017.

The latest batch of authorizations encompasses the revival of a pair of communities — Ganim and Kadim — which were removed almost two decades ago.

Previously, Israel gave the nod to twenty-two new settlements in the occupied West Bank - described as the most significant expansion in many years.

Additionally, the Israeli government also approved blueprints last summer to construct more than three thousand homes in the controversial E1 project between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim community, a plan that had been frozen for many years amid intense global condemnation.

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

Population Realities and International Response

An estimated 700,000 settlers reside in approximately 160 communities in the occupied territories, as per data from the Israel-based monitoring organization Peace Now. This is land that the Palestinian people envision for a prospective independent state.

This ongoing construction has drawn ire from Arab nations who have consistently argued it erodes prospects for a two-state solution.

It has also sparked concerns about the potential annexing of the occupied West Bank.

Former US President Donald Trump had previously cautioned the Israeli leadership about annexation, telling TIME magazine that Israel would lose all its support from the United States if it proceeded.

Recently, the UK - joined by other nations including Australia and Canada - formally recognized a State of Palestine, a major although largely symbolic shift in foreign policy.

Israel strongly rejected this recognition, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that a sovereign Palestine "will not happen."