Israel has prepared to establish 19 more Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank to block the establishment of a Palestinian state.
According to a report by news agency AFP, the Israeli cabinet has approved the establishment of 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
According to a statement issued by the office of Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the total number of approved Jewish settlements over the past three years has reached 69 after the decision.
It is clear that the recent approval comes a few days after a statement by the United Nations, which stated that the expansion of Israel's Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank has reached its highest level since at least 2017, which is illegal under international law. The statement said that the cabinet approved a proposal by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz to announce and formalize 19 new settlements in Judea and Samaria (the occupied West Bank).
Bezalel Smotrich is a supporter of settlement expansion and is himself a settler. He said in his statement that we are practically blocking the establishment of a Palestinian state, we will continue to settle and develop our ancestral heritage land because we have complete confidence in the truth of our way.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has recently condemned Israel's expansion of Jewish settlements in occupied territories.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, demands for the establishment of a Palestinian state have intensified. Recently, several European countries, Canada, and Australia have taken steps to formally recognize such a state, which Israel has strongly opposed.