Israel authorises new West Bank settlements most countries view as illegal
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Israel says it will establish 22 Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, including the legalisation of outposts already built without government authorisation. Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip meanwhile killed at least 13 people overnight into Thursday, local health officials said. Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war and the Palestinians want all three territories for their future state. Most of the international community views settlements as illegal and an obstacle to resolving the decades-old conflict. A view of the West Bank Israeli outpost of Homesh on Thursday, May 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed) Defence Minister Israel Katz said the settlement decision "strengthens our hold on Judea and Samaria", using the biblical term for the West Bank. He said it "anchors our historical right in the Land of Israel, and constitutes a crushing response to Palestinian terrorism". He added that the construction of settlements was also "a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel". The Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now said the announcement was the most extensive move of its kind since the 1993 Oslo accords that launched the now-defunct peace process. It said the settlements, which are deep inside the territory, would "dramatically reshape the West Bank and entrench the occupation even further". Israel has already built well over 100 settlements across the territory that are home to some 500,000 settlers. The settlements range from small hilltop outposts to fully developed communities with apartment blocks, shopping centres, factories and parks. The West Bank is home to 3 million Palestinians, who live under Israeli military rule with the Palestinian Authority administering population centres. The settlers have Israeli citizenship. Peace Now said the plans call for the authorisation of 12 existing outposts, the development of nine new settlements and reclassifying a neighbourhood of an existing settlement as a separate one. "The government is making clear — again and without restraint — that it prefers deepening the occupation and advancing de facto annexation over pursuing peace," Peace Now said. Israel's Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz listens during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the war in Gaza, March 11, 2024, at UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) Israel has accelerated settlement construction in recent years — long before Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack ignited the war in Gaza — confining Palestinians to smaller and smaller areas of the West Bank and making the prospect of establishing a viable, independent state even more remote. During his first term, US President Donald Trump's administration broke with decades of US foreign policy by supporting Israel's claims to territory seized by force and taking steps to legitimise the settlements. Former president Joe Biden, like most of his predecessors, opposed the settlements but applied little pressure to Israel to curb their growth. The top United Nations court ruled last year that Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and called on it to end, and for settlement construction to stop immediately. Israel denounced the non-binding opinion by a 15-judge panel of the International Court of Justice, saying the territories are part of the historic homeland of the Jewish people. A view of the West Bank Israeli outpost of Homesh on Thursday, May 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed) Israel withdrew its settlements from the Gaza Strip in 2005, but leading figures in the current government have called for them to be re-established and for much of the Palestinian population of the territory to be resettled elsewhere through what they describe as voluntary emigration. Palestinians view such plans as a blueprint for their forcible expulsion from their homeland, and experts say the plans would likely violate international law. Israel now controls more than 70 per cent of Gaza, according to Yaakov Garb, a professor of environmental studies at Ben Gurion University, who has examined Israeli-Palestinian land use patterns for decades. The area includes buffer zones along the border with Israel as well as the southern city of Rafah, which is now mostly uninhabited, and other large areas that Israel has ordered to be evacuated. Destroyed buildings in Gaza Strip are seen from southern Israel, Monday, May 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) (AP) The war began with Hamas' October 7 attack, in which militants stormed into Israel, killing some 1200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Hamas still holds 58 hostages, about a third of them alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements. Israeli forces have rescued eight and recovered dozens of bodies. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. Israeli strikes killed at least 13 Palestinians overnight in Gaza, according to local hospitals. Israeli soldiers work on tanks and armoured vehicles at a staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Monday, May 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit) Four were killed in a strike on a car in Gaza City late on Wednesday and another eight, including two women and three children, were killed in a strike on a home in Jabaliya. A strike on a built-up refugee camp in central Gaza killed one person and wounded 18. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants are embedded in populated areas. Israel Hamas Conflict
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The sanctioning of two Israeli ministers signals Australia will be more assertive in pushing for a two-state solution in the Middle East, an expert says. The federal government applied sanctions against Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a co-ordinated move with allies Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. The sanctions were applied for "extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights", with the pair barred from travelling to Australia and any assets in the country being frozen. The measures prompted condemnation from the US with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying it would do little to achieve a ceasefire in the conflict. But Middle East politics professor at Deakin University Shahram Akbarzadeh said the sanctions were a consequential step. "It is significant and it sends a signal that Australia is becoming more resolute in pursuing its foreign policy agenda of a two-state solution," he told AAP. "Australia would not have done this on its own, but when Australia sees other allied countries taking this move, that allows Australia to feel comfortable in numbers." Israel's ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said the sanctions were concerning and unacceptable. "These ministers are part of a government that operates under the principle of collective responsibility, making such measures unreasonable," he said in a statement. "The Israeli government will convene early next week to consider and determine our official response to these actions." Prof Akbarzadeh said the sanctions imposed by the western allies would not alter how Israel would conduct itself in the conflict. 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The sanctioning of two Israeli ministers signals Australia will be more assertive in pushing for a two-state solution in the Middle East, an expert says. The federal government applied sanctions against Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a co-ordinated move with allies Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. The sanctions were applied for "extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights", with the pair barred from travelling to Australia and any assets in the country being frozen. The measures prompted condemnation from the US with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying it would do little to achieve a ceasefire in the conflict. But Middle East politics professor at Deakin University Shahram Akbarzadeh said the sanctions were a consequential step. "It is significant and it sends a signal that Australia is becoming more resolute in pursuing its foreign policy agenda of a two-state solution," he told AAP. "Australia would not have done this on its own, but when Australia sees other allied countries taking this move, that allows Australia to feel comfortable in numbers." Israel's ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said the sanctions were concerning and unacceptable. "These ministers are part of a government that operates under the principle of collective responsibility, making such measures unreasonable," he said in a statement. "The Israeli government will convene early next week to consider and determine our official response to these actions." Prof Akbarzadeh said the sanctions imposed by the western allies would not alter how Israel would conduct itself in the conflict. "Israel has shown it does not take international opinion seriously, and this move is unlikely to deter the Israeli government in the way they're prosecuting the war in Gaza," he said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese doubled down on the need for the sanctions, despite the reaction from Israel and the US. "Sometimes friends have to be clear with each other," he told reporters in Sydney. "We support Israel's right to live and to exist in secure borders, but we also support the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians." Israel's violence in Gaza restarted after Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation, invaded the nation and killed about 1200 people and abducted 250 others on October 7, 2023. Israel's bombardment, aid blockages and military action in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 people and left many more on the brink of starvation. Australia in July also sanctioned Israelis involved in attacking and killing Palestinians in the West Bank. The sanctioning of two Israeli ministers signals Australia will be more assertive in pushing for a two-state solution in the Middle East, an expert says. The federal government applied sanctions against Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a co-ordinated move with allies Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom. The sanctions were applied for "extremist violence and serious abuses of Palestinian human rights", with the pair barred from travelling to Australia and any assets in the country being frozen. The measures prompted condemnation from the US with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying it would do little to achieve a ceasefire in the conflict. But Middle East politics professor at Deakin University Shahram Akbarzadeh said the sanctions were a consequential step. "It is significant and it sends a signal that Australia is becoming more resolute in pursuing its foreign policy agenda of a two-state solution," he told AAP. "Australia would not have done this on its own, but when Australia sees other allied countries taking this move, that allows Australia to feel comfortable in numbers." Israel's ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon said the sanctions were concerning and unacceptable. "These ministers are part of a government that operates under the principle of collective responsibility, making such measures unreasonable," he said in a statement. "The Israeli government will convene early next week to consider and determine our official response to these actions." Prof Akbarzadeh said the sanctions imposed by the western allies would not alter how Israel would conduct itself in the conflict. "Israel has shown it does not take international opinion seriously, and this move is unlikely to deter the Israeli government in the way they're prosecuting the war in Gaza," he said. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese doubled down on the need for the sanctions, despite the reaction from Israel and the US. "Sometimes friends have to be clear with each other," he told reporters in Sydney. "We support Israel's right to live and to exist in secure borders, but we also support the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians." Israel's violence in Gaza restarted after Hamas, a designated terrorist organisation, invaded the nation and killed about 1200 people and abducted 250 others on October 7, 2023. Israel's bombardment, aid blockages and military action in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 people and left many more on the brink of starvation. Australia in July also sanctioned Israelis involved in attacking and killing Palestinians in the West Bank.
