🔗 Share this article

Israel's top security body has given its endorsement to the establishment of nineteen additional communities in the occupied West Bank, signaling a ongoing drive for community development.

Hardline Treasury Chief Bezalel Smotrich, a settler who advocated for the move together with Defence Minister Israel Katz, stated that the approval was intended for preventing the creation of a sovereign Palestine.

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

The decision has drawn censure from Saudi Arabia. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has commented that Israel's "relentless" growth of communities fuels tensions, curtails Palestinian use of land, and undermines the feasibility of a independent Palestine.

Rising Tensions and Diplomatic Fallout

Violence in the occupied West Bank has escalated since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, adding to apprehensions that settlement expansion could entrench the Israeli presence and damage the possibility for a two-state solution.

The concept of two states involves the creation of a State of Palestine in the Palestinian territories, with Jerusalem's eastern sector as its seat of government, largely along the borders that were in place before the 1967 Six-Day Arab-Israeli war.

Upon assuming leadership in late 2022, the current government in Jerusalem has significantly increased the authorization of fresh communities and begun the formal recognition for informal settler outposts, recognising them as "extensions" of established communities.

Ongoing Growth

The most recent decision pushes the total number of communities recognized over the preceding 36 months to 69, per the figures from Smotrich.

These approvals come only a few days after the United Nations said that construction in settlements had reached its most intense pace since the year 2017.

The most recent group of approvals includes the rebuilding of two communities — Ganim and Kadim — which were evacuated almost 20 years ago.

Earlier this year, Israel authorized 22 additional communities in the territories - what was the most significant wave of approvals in many years.

Additionally, the government gave the go-ahead for projects in August to build more than 3,000 residences in the so-called E1 corridor between the capital and the Maale Adumim community, a initiative that had been stalled for decades amid strong foreign opposition.

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

Demographic Realities and Global Reactions

An estimated seven hundred thousand settlers dwell in about 160 communities in the occupied territories, according to the Israel-based monitoring organization Peace Now. This is land that Palestinians seek for a future sovereign nation.

Settlement expansion has angered Arab nations who have repeatedly argued it harms chances for a peaceful two-state outcome.

It has furthermore raised concerns about the eventual annexing of the disputed territories.

Ex- US President Donald Trump had once cautioned Israel about annexation, stating to a publication that the country would lose all its support from the United States if it happened.

In a diplomatic shift, the United Kingdom - together with other countries including Australia and Canada - acknowledged a Palestinian state, a significant although primarily ceremonial change in foreign policy.

The Israeli government was against the move, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring that a sovereign Palestine "is not going to occur."