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The nation's top security body has formally approved the establishment of 19 fresh outposts in the disputed West Bank, signaling a continued campaign for settlement expansion.

Hardline Treasury Chief Bezalel Smotrich, a settler who advocated for the step alongside Defense Chief Israel Katz, declared that the decision was about blocking the creation of a Palestinian state.

Under international law, Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are viewed as unlawful.

The announcement has elicited condemnation from Saudi Arabia. The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has previously stated that Israel's "persistent" settlement expansion fuels frictions, curtails Palestinian use of land, and undermines the prospects of a sovereign Palestinian state.

Rising Tensions and Diplomatic Fallout

Violence in the occupied West Bank has escalated since the war in Gaza began in the autumn of 2023, adding to apprehensions that settlement expansion could entrench the Israeli presence and weaken the prospects for a two-state solution.

The two-state solution envisions the establishment of a State of Palestine in the Palestinian territories, with East Jerusalem as its seat of government, broadly along the lines that existed prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Since coming to power in 2022, the present government in Jerusalem has significantly increased the authorization of new settlements and initiated the legalisation process for unauthorised outposts, recognising them as "neighbourhoods" of established settlements.

Ongoing Growth

The latest approval brings the overall count of communities authorized over the past three years to sixty-nine, per the figures from Minister Smotrich.

These decisions are announced just days after the United Nations stated that settlement expansion had attained its most intense pace since the year 2017.

The most recent group of approvals features the revival of a pair of settlements — Ganim and Kadim — which were removed almost two decades ago.

Earlier this year, Israel authorized twenty-two additional communities in the occupied West Bank - what was the largest wave of approvals in decades.

Additionally, the government gave the go-ahead for plans in August to build over three thousand residences in the so-called E1 project between the capital and the Maale Adumim settlement, a initiative that had been on hold for many years amid fierce global condemnation.

On that occasion, Smotrich said it would "end the idea of a Palestinian state."

Population Facts and Global Response

An estimated seven hundred thousand settlers live in around one hundred and sixty settlements in the occupied territories, as per data from the Israeli monitoring organization Peace Now. This is territory that the Palestinian people seek for a prospective independent state.

Settlement expansion has drawn ire from Arab states who have steadfastly argued it undermines hopes for a peaceful two-state outcome.

It has also sparked concerns about the eventual annexing of the occupied West Bank.

Ex- US President Donald Trump had previously cautioned the Israeli leadership about this step, stating to TIME magazine that the country would lose its backing from the United States if it happened.

In a diplomatic shift, the UK - along with other countries such as Australia and Canada - recognised a State of Palestine, a notable although primarily ceremonial adjustment in foreign policy.

The Israeli government was against the move, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring that a Palestinian state "is off the table."