The measure, considered illegal under international law, threatens to jeopardize efforts to move towards the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
Israel has announced the creation of 11 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, a decision that risks worsening tensions amid efforts to begin the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza.
The government is also expected to legalize and recognize eight existing settlement outposts and neighborhoods that were previously considered illegal under Israeli law.
The new settlements were approved by the security cabinet on December 12 and were proposed by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz.
With this, the total number of agreements approved during Smotrich’s term, since November 2022, reaches 69.
The minister hailed the move as “an unprecedented record,” adding in a LinkedIn post that “the people of Israel are returning to their land, rebuilding it and strengthening their rule over it.”
Kadim and Ganim, two of four West Bank settlements dismantled in 2005 as part of Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, are the latest to be legalized in this ruling.
Under international law, all settlement construction in occupied territory is illegal.
Around 700,000 Israeli settlers are authorized by the government to live in approximately 150 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, all built since Israel occupied the territories in the Six-Day War in 1967.
There are also around 200 other irregular settlements. A 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice declared that both types of Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.
‘Dangerous climb’
The head of the Commission for Resistance to the Wall and Settlements and minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), Muayyad Shaban, stated that the latest measure constitutes “a war of extermination against Palestinian geography”.
The Palestinian minister called for international intervention to prevent what he described as a “dangerous escalation”, which, according to him, “reveals the true intentions of the occupation government to consolidate the system of annexation, apartheid and the complete Judaization of the Palestinian land”.
“The decision constitutes a blatant defiance of international law and Security Council resolutions, and sounds the alarm about the future of the West Bank, which is subject to a systematic process of colonization aimed at eradicating the Palestinian presence and transforming cities and villages into isolated and besieged enclaves.”
The announcement was also the target of international criticism.
The British Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa, Hamish Falconer, condemned the measure in a publication on X.
“These actions are illegal under international law,” he said, adding that “they risk undermining the 20-Point Plan” drawn up by US President Donald Trump to end the war in Gaza, as well as “the prospects for long-term peace and security that only a two-state solution can provide.”
Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza, more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by troops and settlers.
Israeli violence has increased dramatically over the past two years and has continued despite a ceasefire that took effect in October.
The Commission on Colonization and Wall Resistance said that in November alone there were some 2,144 attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinian civilians and their property, including 1,523 carried out by soldiers and 621 by settlers.
Originally published by Middle East Eye on 12/22/2025
By Mera Aladam
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2025/12/22/israel-anuncia-a-criacao-de-11-novos-assentamentos-na-cisjordania/
