Israel Secretly Approves 22 New Settlements in West Bank Amid Ongoing Gaza Assault

Watan-On Tuesday evening, the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Israel’s Security Cabinet secretly approved the construction of 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank.

While the exact date of the decision was not disclosed, the report confirmed that it includes the reestablishment of the dismantled outposts of Homesh and Sa-Nur, which were evacuated under the 2005 Gaza Disengagement Plan. The initiative was pushed by Minister of Defense Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Settlement activity has sharply increased in recent years. Data from the NGO Peace Now, based on official figures from Israel’s Supreme Planning Council, shows that in 2022, Israel approved 4,427 settlement units, rising to 12,349 in 2023. Although there was a slight drop to 9,971 in 2024, approvals soared again in early 2025, with 14,335 settlement plans approved in just the first three months.

Since Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Smotrich introduced a law allowing military courts to fine Palestinians for unpaid military penalties. Meanwhile, MK Amit Halevi promoted a proposal to create a Heritage Ministry department to oversee West Bank archaeological affairs—after facing opposition to a more expansive law extending Israeli Antiquities Authority powers into the West Bank.

In January 2025, the Knesset preliminarily passed a bill by MK Moshe Solomon (Religious Zionism Party) making it easier for Jews to buy land in the West Bank personally, circumventing previous legal restrictions that required land purchases via companies. The bill would repeal Jordanian-era legislation prohibiting land sales to non-Arabs.

Israel is accelerating annexation efforts in the West Bank alongside its war on Gaza—through settlement expansion and Palestinian displacement, especially in the northern West Bank, which has faced intensive military attacks since January. The Palestinian Authority warns that formal annexation will eliminate all prospects for a two-state solution.

Since October 2023, Israeli military and settler attacks in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have killed hundreds of Palestinians and injured tens of thousands, according to Palestinian sources.

Palestinian Presidency: A Dangerous Escalation

Palestinian presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned the decision, calling it a “dangerous escalation” and a “blatant violation of international law and legitimacy.”

He added:“All settlement activity is illegal. This decision defies all international legal resolutions, particularly UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which deems all Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, illegal.”

Abu Rudeineh called on the U.S. administration to urgently intervene to halt Israel’s provocations:“The far-right Israeli government must stop destabilizing the West Bank and the region. The U.S. must act now—before it’s too late—to force Israel to respect international law and cease its war across Gaza and the West Bank, including Jerusalem.”