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The nation's top security body has given its endorsement to the formalization of nineteen fresh communities in the contested West Bank, marking a ongoing drive for settlement expansion.

Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler who put forward the move together with Defence Minister Israel Katz, asserted that the approval was about thwarting the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Under international law, Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal.

The announcement has elicited condemnation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that Israel's "unceasing" settlement expansion exacerbates frictions, limits Palestinians' access to territory, and undermines the prospects of a independent Palestine.

Rising Unrest and Political Repercussions

Unrest in the region has increased sharply since the conflict in Gaza erupted in October 2023, adding to fears that settlement expansion could deepen Israel's occupation and weaken the prospects for a peaceful resolution based on two states.

The concept of two states refers to the formation of a State of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem's eastern sector as its seat of government, broadly along the boundaries that existed prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Upon assuming leadership in late 2022, the present government in Jerusalem has significantly increased the green-lighting of fresh communities and begun the process of legalization for unauthorised settler outposts, designating them as "neighbourhoods" of existing communities.

A Pattern of Expansion

The most recent decision brings the total number of communities recognized over the last three years to sixty-nine, per the figures from Minister Smotrich.

These authorizations come just days after the United Nations said that construction in settlements had attained its most intense pace since 2017.

The most recent round of authorizations includes the revival of two communities — Ganim and Kadim — which were evacuated about in 2005.

In a previous move, Israel approved 22 additional communities in the territories - described as the biggest wave of approvals in decades.

Furthermore, the Israeli government sanctioned plans last summer to construct over 3,000 residences in the controversial E1 project between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim community, a plan that had been on hold for many years amid fierce global objection.

On that occasion, Smotrich said it would "bury the concept of a Palestinian state."

Population Realities and Global Reactions

Approximately 700,000 settlers live in about one hundred and sixty settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as per data from the Israeli monitoring organization Peace Now. This is territory that the Palestinian people envision for a prospective independent state.

Settlement expansion has angered neighboring countries who have consistently contended it harms prospects for a peaceful two-state outcome.

It has furthermore fueled anxieties about the eventual incorporation of the disputed territories.

Former US President Donald Trump had previously cautioned Israel about annexation, stating to a publication that the country would lose all its support from the US if it happened.

Recently, the UK - joined by other nations including Australia and Canada - recognised a State of Palestine, a major although primarily ceremonial change in foreign policy.

Israel opposed the move, with PM Benjamin Netanyahu declaring that a Palestinian state "is off the table."