May 29, Kathmandu-Israeli ministers have approved the establishment of 22 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, marking the largest such expansion in more than 30 years. The announcement was made by Defence Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said the move includes both the legalization of existing unauthorized outposts and the creation of entirely new settlements.

Some of the settlements already exist as outposts built without official government authorization, but they will now be made legal under Israeli law. Others, such as Mount Ebal near Nablus and Beit Horon North west of Ramallah, are completely new. According to the Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now, nine of the settlements are entirely new, and 12 previously unauthorized outposts will now be legalized. One of the settlements, Nofei Prat, will now be officially recognized as an independent community rather than a neighborhood of Kfar Adumim, near East Jerusalem.

The settlements are widely considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. Settlements remain one of the most divisive issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinian presidency has condemned the move as a “dangerous escalation,” while Defence Minister Katz said it was necessary to “prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel.”

Peace Now criticized the decision, calling it “the most extensive move of its kind” in more than three decades. The organization warned that the expansion would “dramatically reshape the West Bank and entrench the occupation even further.”

Since Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war, it has built around 160 settlements, now home to approximately 700,000 Israelis. These settlements are located in areas the Palestinians seek for a future independent state, alongside Gaza. About 3.3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, often under heavy restrictions and in close proximity to expanding Israeli communities.

The pace of settlement expansion has increased sharply since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in late 2022, leading a right-wing, pro-settler coalition. The growth has accelerated further amid the ongoing war in Gaza, which began after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023.

The recent announcement also marks what the ministers described as a “historic return” to the northern West Bank settlements of Homesh and Sa-Nur. These settlements were evacuated in 2005 when Israel withdrew from Gaza. In recent years, settlers have returned to Homesh, where a religious school and an unauthorized outpost were established—now among those to be legalized.

Maps circulating in Israeli media suggest the new settlements will be spread throughout the West Bank, though specific locations were not disclosed in the official announcement. The statement emphasized the “renewal of settlement in northern Samaria” and strengthening the “eastern axis of the State of Israel.”

The decision is likely to increase tensions in the region and deepen concerns among the international community about the viability of a two-state solution.