Israeli ministers say 22 new Jewish settlements have been approved in the occupied West Bank – the biggest expansion in decades.
Several already exist as outposts, built without government authorisation, but will now be made legal under Israeli law, according to Defence Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The issue of settlements – which are widely seen as illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this – is one of the most contentious areas of dispute between Israel and the Palestinians.
Katz said the move “prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel”, while the Palestinian presidency called it a “dangerous escalation”.
The Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now said the new settlements would “dramatically reshape the West Bank and entrench the occupation even further”.
Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem – land the Palestinians want as part of a future state – in the 1967 Middle East war.
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