Israeli security Cabinet approves 22 new settlements in West Bank

Israel has approved 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich confirmed on X on Thursday.

The controversial approval of the new settlements was granted at a meeting of Israel's security Cabinet, local media reported.

"This is a great day for the settlement project and an important day for Israel," Smotrich wrote.

Defence Minister Israel Katz described the decision as "historic," saying it is "anchoring our historic right in the Land of Israel."

Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967. Today, more than 700,000 Israeli settlers live there among the 3 million Palestinians.

The Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. The Palestinians claim the territories as their own state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

According to information from the Israeli movement Peace Now, the approval recognizes numerous outposts that were previously illegal even from an Israeli perspective as settlements.

Only nine of the 22 approved settlements are actually new, but the move marks the largest settlement expansion in decades, Peace Now said.

In a statement, the group sharply criticized the government's decision, which it said would "dramatically reshape the West Bank and entrench the occupation even further."

"The Israeli government no longer pretends otherwise: the annexation of the Occupied Territories and expansion of settlements is its central goal," it said.

The move has also drawn criticism from abroad. Hamish Falconer, British parliamentary under-secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, wrote on X: "The UK condemns these actions. Settlements are illegal under international law, further imperil the two state solution, and do not protect Israel."