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The nation's top security body has given its endorsement to the formalization of 19 additional settlements in the contested Palestinian territories, representing a ongoing push for territorial growth.

Far-right Treasury Chief Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in a settlement and proposed the move alongside Defence Minister Israel Katz, declared that the move was about preventing the formation of a sovereign Palestine.

Under international law, Israeli settlements in the disputed territories are deemed illegal.

The decision has sparked criticism from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has said that Israel's "unceasing" growth of communities exacerbates frictions, curtails Palestinians' use of territory, and jeopardizes the viability of a independent Palestine.

Increased Tensions and Diplomatic Repercussions

Clashes in the occupied West Bank has increased sharply since the conflict in the Gaza Strip started in the autumn of 2023, further heightening apprehensions that settlement expansion could solidify Israel's occupation and damage the prospects for a two-state solution.

The concept of two states refers to the formation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital, roughly along the boundaries that existed before the 1967 Six-Day Arab-Israeli war.

Since coming to power in 2022, the present Israeli government has greatly accelerated the green-lighting of new settlements and begun the legalisation process for unauthorised settler outposts, recognising them as "suburbs" of existing settlements.

A Pattern of Growth

The most recent decision pushes the overall count of communities recognized over the last three years to 69, per the figures from Smotrich.

These approvals arrive a short time after the United Nations said that construction in settlements had hit its most intense pace since the year 2017.

The most recent group of authorizations features the rebuilding of a pair of communities — Ganim and Kadim — which were removed almost in 2005.

In a previous move, the Israeli government gave the nod to twenty-two additional settlements in the territories - what was the largest expansion in decades.

Additionally, the Israeli government sanctioned blueprints last summer to build in excess of three thousand residences in the so-called E1 project between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim community, a initiative that had been on hold for decades amid fierce international opposition.

On that occasion, Smotrich remarked it would "end the concept of a Palestinian state."

Demographic Realities and International Response

An estimated 700,000 Israeli settlers reside in around one hundred and sixty communities in the occupied territories, according to the Israel-based anti-settlement group Peace Now. This is land that Palestinians aspire to have for a future sovereign nation.

This ongoing construction has provoked Arab nations who have consistently said it erodes prospects for a two-state solution.

It has also raised anxieties about the eventual annexing of the disputed territories.

Ex- US President Donald Trump had previously cautioned Israel about annexation, stating to TIME magazine that Israel would lose its backing from the US if it proceeded.

Recently, the UK - joined by other nations such as Australia and Canada - recognised a Palestinian state, a notable although primarily ceremonial change in foreign policy.

Israel was against the move, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that a sovereign Palestine "is off the table."