Palestinian Authority says Israel is tightening control of the West Bank with new settlements
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday condemned Israel's recent recognition of 19 settlements in the occupied West Bank, accusing it of tightening its control over Palestinian land.
On Sunday, Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that authorities had given the green light to the settlements, saying the move was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounced the recognition as a “dangerous step aimed at reinforcing colonial rule over all of Palestine,” calling it a continuation of “apartheid, settlement and annexation policies that undermine the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”
“This decision provides political cover for accelerating the dispossession of Palestinian land and expanding settlement infrastructure, while at the same time intensifying the pace of settler terror against our people and property,” it said in a statement.
The move brings the total number of settlements approved in the past three years to 69, according to Smotrich's office.
Excluding East Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, the West Bank is home to more than 500,000 Israelis and about 3 million Palestinians.
Smotrich's office said the 19 newly approved settlements are located in “highly strategic” areas, adding that two of them, Ganim and Kadim in the northern West Bank, will be re-established after being dismantled 20 years ago.
The statement said five of the 19 settlements already existed but had not previously been granted legal status under Israeli law.
Israel's decision comes days after the United Nations announced that Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank, all of which is illegal under international law, has reached its highest level since at least 2017.
US President Donald Trump recently warned that if Israel annexed the West Bank, it would “lose all support from the United States.”
Israel has occupied the area since 1967, and violence in the area has increased sharply since the outbreak of the Gaza War in October 2023 due to Hamas attacks on Israel.
Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 1,028 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, in the West Bank since the start of the fighting in Gaza, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian Health Ministry statistics.
At least 44 Israelis were killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations in the West Bank during the same period, according to Israeli data.
