Key facts
- Israel's security cabinet approved a budget of 1.3 billion shekels ($434 million) for 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank.
- The funding includes an additional 1.075 billion shekels for roads to the new settlements.
- Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a proponent of settlements, views the move as strengthening Israel's hold on the territory.
- Most countries and UN bodies consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law.
Israel's security cabinet has approved a budget of 1.3 billion shekels ($434 million) to establish 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. This move is expected to increase tensions over territory considered by Palestinians and most of the international community as central to a future Palestinian state.
Smotrich, a key figure in the settlement movement, stated that the decision was historic and aimed at strengthening Israel's security and its hold on the region, referred to by him as Judea and Samaria. He also announced that an additional 1.075 billion shekels would be allocated for paving roads to these new settlements. The total number of settlements established under Smotrich's tenure would reach 103 with this latest approval.
International bodies, including the United Nations, and Palestinians view Israeli settlements as illegal under international conventions, a position Israel disputes. The announcement comes amid a rise in settler violence against Palestinians and their property in recent months. Approximately 700,000 Israeli settlers currently reside in the West Bank and East Jerusalem alongside 2.7 million Palestinians.