Israel approves 764 more illegal settlement units in West Bank

The Israeli government has approved another 764 settlement units in the occupied West Bank, deepening its takeover of Palestinian land in open defiance of international law.

Israel's Channel 7 reported that the government's Higher Planning Council had signed off on the plans on Wednesday, expanding settlements in contravention of international law.

The latest developments include 478 units in the Hashmonaim settlement, 230 in Beitar Illit, and 56 in Giv'at Ze'ev, all built on illegally seized Palestinian territory.

With this move, the current far-right government has now authorised 51,370 settlement units since late 2022, further entrenching Israel's decades-long policy of land seizure and de facto annexation.

The UN has repeatedly affirmed that all settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territories is illegal, and erodes the possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state.

Despite decades of international calls to halt expansion, Israel has accelerated its settlement drive with impunity.

More than 700,000 Israeli settlers now live across the West Bank, including around 250,000 in occupied East Jerusalem, tightening Israel’s grip over Palestinian land and preventing Palestinians from exercising their right to self-determination.

In October, the Israeli Knesset advanced, in a preliminary reading, a bill to formally annex the West Bank, prompting widespread regional and international condemnation. Such annexation would wipe out the two-state framework that the UN still nominally upholds.

US President Donald Trump, a longstanding ally of Israel, criticised the Knesset's move while insisting Israel would not pursue formal annexation - a stance met with scepticism given the scale of ongoing settlement expansion.

Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Arab-Israel war and has occupied it ever since. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has rejected any possibility of allowing Palestinians in a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem or Gaza, continuing policies that entrench permanent Israeli control.

The Palestinian Authority has condemned the latest settlement expansion. PA spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the move violates international law, including UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which declares all settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza illegal.

"We hold the occupation government responsible for the dangerous consequences of this destructive policy, which aims to ignite the region, drag it into a cycle of violence and wars, and undermine any effort seeking to pull the region out of this spiral," he said.

Abu Rudeineh urged the Trump administration to pressure Israel to halt its settlement expansion and force compliance with international law.

As Israel accelerates illegal settlement building, its military raids and attacks by extremist settlers have killed more than a thousand Palestinians since October 2023. The Gaza genocide has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians.

A fragile ceasefire has nominally held for around nine weeks, though Israeli violations continue to be documented on the ground.