Israel’s Cabinet approves 19 new settlements in West Bank
The Israeli Cabinet has approved the recognition of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, as announced by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a strong advocate for settlement expansion. This decision includes the reauthorization of the Ganim and Kadim settlements, areas previously vacated by Israel as its 2005 disengagement from Gaza, which Smotrich described as correcting a “painful injustice.” The approval also designates eight previously unrecognized areas as settlements and establishes 11 new ones,bringing recent settlement counts to 69. Smotrich emphasized this move as a moral affirmation of Zionism and a step to prevent the formation of a Palestinian state he labels as terrorist.
The United Nations, through deputy special coordinator Ramiz Alakbarov, warned that settlement advancement in 2025 has reached a record high since UN tracking began, urging Israel to halt these activities in line with International Court of Justice rulings. In contrast, the U.S.representative at a Security Council briefing criticized the focus on Resolution 2334 concerning settlements, advocating rather for Resolution 2803, which supports former President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza. The U.S. stressed its commitment to Israel’s security and regional stability, reiterating opposition to West Bank annexation and calling for an end to violence in the area.
Israel’s Cabinet approves 19 new settlements in West Bank
The Israeli Cabinet has recognized 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Sunday.
Smotrich, who also serves as the chairman of the country’s Religious Zionist Party, has been a longtime leading advocate for the settlements that are deemed illegal under international law. In August, Smotrich unveiled the Cabinet’s support for the “E1 settlement plan” connecting the Maale Adumim settlement to East Jerusalem.
The Cabinet’s greenlighting of the new settlements includes the Ganim and Kadim settlements, which are northern West Bank areas that have been vacated by Israel for two decades since Isreal agreed to its 2005 disengagement from Gaza. Smotrich said the Cabinet’s approval of the two settlements marks the correction of what he called a “painful injustice.”
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Smotrich announced that he and Defense Minister Israel Katz proposed the plan, which he says brings the settlement count in recent years up to 69. The Cabinet recognized eight existing but nonrecognized occupied areas as settlements while designating 11 new settlements.
“The people of Israel are returning to their land, building it and strengthening their hold on it. This is simple, correct and moral Zionism. We are stopping the establishment of a Palestinian terrorist state. We will continue to develop, build and settle in the land of our ancestors, with faith in the righteousness of the path,” Smotrich wrote on X, according to a translation.
In a U.N. Security Council briefing on Dec. 16, Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N. deputy special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, warned of the Israeli Cabinet’s vote to add the new settlements, which he said occurred on Dec. 11.
“In 2025, settlement advancement reached its highest point since U.N. tracking began in 2017,” Alakbarov said, urging Israel to cease its settlement activities in accordance with the United Nations’s International Court of Justice ruling.
The U.S. representative in the briefing, Jennifer Locetta, circled back to President Donald Trump’s plan for peace in Gaza, saying the quarterly briefings on settlements outlined in the council’s Resolution 2334 “only distract from pressing threats to international peace and security.”
“Resolution 2803, not 2334, charts the path towards a stable, safe, and prosperous Middle East,” Locetta said, referencing the resolution that endorses Trump’s peace plan. “We are working with partners to stand up the international stabilization force and train fully-vetted Palestinian police, not re-hashing decades of failed policies.”
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The U.S. delegation emphasized its priorities of keeping Israel secure and the West Bank and Gaza stable.
“President Trump has been perfectly clear that the United States expects the violence in the West Bank to end and that the United States will not allow the annexation of the West Bank,” Locetta said.
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