Israel’s security cabinet has secretly authorised the establishment of 34 new settlements across the occupied West Bank, the largest single-session approval of settlements ever recorded, drawing immediate and widespread international condemnation and deepening concerns over the viability of a future Palestinian state.
The decision, confirmed by Israeli rights group Peace Now, was taken during a recent cabinet session and has not been officially published by any Israeli government body. Of the 34 approved sites, 24 are entirely new settlements yet to be built, while 10 are existing outposts that have long been considered illegal even under Israeli law and will now be retroactively legalised. The approved locations include areas within Palestinian neighbourhoods in the northern West Bank and remote zones that Israeli forces rarely reach.
The approvals bring the cumulative total of settlements sanctioned under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s right-wing coalition — which came to power in late 2022 — to 102. All Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law, a position reaffirmed by the International Court of Justice in an advisory opinion issued on 19 July 2024, which declared Israeli expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem unlawful.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was among the first to respond, issuing a formal condemnation and asserting that Israel, as the occupying power, holds no sovereignty over the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. The Palestinian Presidency’s office described the settlement plan as a "flagrant violation of international law," echoing language used by Sweden’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which issued its own condemnation.
Turkey characterised the approvals as a "serious violation of international law and UN resolutions," while the European Union‘s spokesperson Anouar el Anouni also condemned the decision. The breadth and speed of the international response underscored the sensitivity of settlement expansion at a moment when Israel’s military campaign in Gaza continues to draw global scrutiny.
The timing of the cabinet session is notable. During the same April 1 meeting, Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir warned that the army risked collapse due to mounting demands on its manpower — a stark internal signal of the strain placed on Israeli forces by simultaneous military operations and occupation duties. Despite those warnings, the cabinet moved forward with the settlement approvals.
The broader context is one of accelerating land seizures. Rights groups have documented a sharp rise in settlement approvals, land confiscations, and settler violence in the West Bank since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023 — a conflict that has now killed more than 72,000 Palestinians. Critics argue that the Netanyahu government has exploited the cover of wartime to advance a settlement agenda that would have faced greater international resistance under normal circumstances.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and settlement construction has been a feature of every successive Israeli government in the decades since. However, the pace has accelerated markedly under the current coalition, which includes far-right ministers who have openly advocated for the annexation of Palestinian territory. More than 500,000 Israelis now live in West Bank settlements — excluding East Jerusalem — alongside approximately three million Palestinians.
The secrecy surrounding the latest approvals has itself drawn criticism. The decision was not announced through standard government channels, and details emerged primarily through Israeli media and civil society monitoring. Peace Now, which has tracked settlement activity for decades, described the scale of the single-session approval as unprecedented.
For Palestinian leaders and international observers alike, the move represents a further erosion of the territorial foundation upon which any future Palestinian state would need to be built. With the ICJ’s advisory opinion already on record and a growing chorus of governments declaring the settlements unlawful, the gap between international legal consensus and Israeli government policy continues to widen.
