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The nation's security cabinet has formally approved the establishment of 19 additional communities in the disputed Palestinian territories, marking a sustained campaign for settlement expansion.

Far-right Treasury Chief Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in a settlement and put forward the step in concert with Defence Minister Israel Katz, asserted that the approval was aimed at blocking the creation of a Palestinian state.

According to global statutes, Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are viewed as illegal.

The decision has sparked criticism from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has previously stated that Israel's "relentless" settlement expansion exacerbates tensions, limits Palestinian access to land, and undermines the viability of a sovereign Palestinian state.

Rising Unrest and Political Repercussions

Clashes in the occupied West Bank has increased sharply since the conflict in Gaza started in the autumn of 2023, further heightening concerns that settlement expansion could entrench the Israeli presence and undermine the prospects for a peaceful resolution based on two states.

The concept of two states refers to the establishment of a State of Palestine in the Palestinian territories, with Jerusalem's eastern sector as its capital, largely along the boundaries that existed before the 1967 Six-Day Arab-Israeli war.

Upon assuming leadership in 2022, the current Israeli government has greatly accelerated the authorization of fresh communities and started the formal recognition for unauthorised outposts, recognising them as "suburbs" of established settlements.

Sustained Expansion

The most recent approval pushes the overall count of communities recognized over the past three years to 69, according to Smotrich.

These approvals arrive just days after the UN reported that construction in settlements had attained its most intense pace since 2017.

The latest group of authorizations includes the revival of a pair of settlements — Ganim and Kadim — which were dismantled about 20 years ago.

Earlier this year, Israel gave the nod to twenty-two additional settlements in the occupied West Bank - what was the most significant wave of approvals in many years.

Additionally, the government gave the go-ahead for blueprints last summer to build more than three thousand residences in the controversial E1 area between the capital and the Maale Adumim settlement, a plan that had been frozen for decades amid fierce global condemnation.

At that time, Smotrich remarked it would "bury the notion of a Palestinian state."

Population Realities and Global Response

Approximately seven hundred thousand settlers live in approximately one hundred and sixty communities in the occupied territories, according to the Israeli monitoring organization Peace Now. This is territory that Palestinians envision for a future sovereign nation.

This ongoing construction has angered Arab states who have consistently said it undermines chances for a two-state solution.

It has also raised fears about the eventual incorporation of the disputed territories.

Former American President Donald Trump had once cautioned Israel about this step, stating to TIME magazine that Israel would forfeit all its support from the US if it proceeded.

In a policy change, the United Kingdom - joined by other nations such as Australia and Canada - acknowledged a Palestinian state, a notable although largely symbolic change in official stance.

The Israeli government opposed this step, with PM Benjamin Netanyahu saying that a sovereign Palestine "will not happen."