Israeli Cabinet approves 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s Cabinet on Sunday approved a proposal for 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, the far-right finance minister said.

The settlements include two that were previously evacuated during a 2005 disengagement plan, according to Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, who has pushed a settlement expansion agenda in the West Bank.

It brings the total number of new settlements over the past two years to 69, Smotrich wrote on X.

The approval increases the number of settlements in the West Bank by nearly 50% during the current government’s tenure, from 141 in 2022 to 210, after the current approval, according to Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group. Settlements are widely considered illegal under international law.