"It brings the total number of new settlements over the past few years to 69, a new record, according to the far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who has pushed a settlement expansion agenda in the West Bank. The latest include two that were previously evacuated during a 2005 disengagement plan. The approval by the security cabinet increases the number of settlements in the West Bank by nearly 50% during the current far-right government's tenure."
"The cabinet decision included a retroactive legalisation of some previously established settlement outposts or neighbourhoods of existing settlements, and the creation of settlements on land where Palestinians had been evacuated, the finance ministry said. Settlements can range in size from a single dwelling to a collection of high-rises. The ministry said two of the settlements legalised in the latest approval were Kadim and Ganim, which were two of the four West Bank settlements dismantled in 2005 as part of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip."
Israel approved 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, increasing settlement numbers and undermining prospects for a Palestinian state. The additions bring the total number of new settlements over recent years to 69, and raise the overall count to 210 from 141 in 2022, according to Peace Now. The security cabinet retroactively legalized some outposts and created settlements on land evacuated in 2005, including Kadim and Ganim. The current far-right government's tenure has seen nearly a 50% increase in West Bank settlements. Settlements are considered illegal under international law and complicate a US-brokered ceasefire plan envisioning a pathway to Palestinian statehood.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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