The Israeli cabinet today approved a proposal for 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, announced today the far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, quoted by the Associated Press, reported BTA.
According to Smotrich, among them are two settlements that were evacuated during the withdrawal plan in 2005. The minister is actively pushing a policy of expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank, AP notes.
Together with the planned 19, the total number of new settlements in the last two years reaches 69, he wrote in "Ex".
According to the organization "Peace Now" (Peace Now), which monitors settlement policy and opposes the creation of new settlements, the decision increases the number of Israeli settlements in the West Bank by almost 50% during the current government's term: from 141 in 2022 to 210, including the latest 19. The settlements are considered illegal under international law.
The decision comes as the United States is pressuring Israel and Hamas to move forward with the second phase of the Gaza truce, which came into effect on October 10. The U.S.-backed plan envisions a possible path to the creation of a Palestinian state - something the settlement policy aims to prevent.
According to Peace Now The cabinet decision also includes retroactive legalization of some existing settlements, as well as the creation of new settlements on lands from which Palestinians have been displaced.