Israel's Major Expansion of Settlements in West Bank
Israeli Army personnel on duty in Hebron, West Bank, guarding Israeli settlers on May 24, 2025. Credit - Mosab Shawer - Getty Images
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has announced that "22 new settlements" will be established in the West Bank. Some already exist as outputs, but will be made legal under Israeli law, whilst others will be entirely new settlements.
The politician called it a 'historic decision,' adding: 'We have succeeded in creating a profound strategic change, returning the State of Israel to a path of construction, Zionism, and vision. Settlement in the land of our ancestors is the protective wall of the State of Israel.'
Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the move 'anchors our historical right in the Land of Israel, and constitutes a crushing response to Palestinian terrorism,' adding that it is 'a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel.'
It is believed that two of the settlements will be Homesh and Sa-Nur, villages in the West Bank that were evacuated in 2005 as part of Israel's disengagement plan from Gaza, in which all Israeli settlers withdrew from the Strip.
Thursday's announcement has gained criticism from international lawmakers. British politician Hamish Falconer, the Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, said that 'the U.K. condemns these actions.'
In a post on X, Falconer said that the approval of these settlements "is a deliberate obstacle to Palestinian statehood" and that "settlements are illegal under international law, further imperil the two state solution, and do not protect Israel."
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, originally posted in Arabic, on X: 'This is a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, and a clear violation of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent, sovereign state.'
Israeli activist group Peace Now has also heavily condemned the expansion. In a statement published on May 29, the organization said: "The Israeli government no longer pretends otherwise, the annexation of the occupied territories and expansion of settlements is its central goal.'
Peace Now maintains that this is the biggest expansion of settlements in the West Bank since the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993. These accords were seen as hope of a potential route towards peace and a two-state solution, which has since diminished.
According to Peace Now, nine of the settlements will be completely new, one is an already established community, and 12 are outposts and farms that will now be recognized as official settlements.
Read More: Hamas Leader Mohammed Sinwar Killed In Airstrike, Netanyahu Says
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are widely considered to be in violation of international law. The West Bank is defined by the United Nations as under Israeli military occupation, after it took control of the territory, as well as Gaza and East Jerusalem, in 1967 after the Six-Day War.
According to Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, 'the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.'
However, Israel considers itself to be the administrative power, not an occupier. It administers the territory as Israel's 'Judea and Samaria Area.' Therefore, any Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not deemed illegal under Israeli law.
Read More: France and Italy Summon Israeli Ambassadors After Israel Fired 'Warning Shots' at Diplomatic Delegation
As of December 2024, there were 529,455 Jewish settlers living in the West Bank, spread across 141 settlements. The West Bank is also home to roughly three million Palestinians who live in pockets administered by the Palestinian Authority. Under Israeli rule, Palestinian residents must pass through the Israeli checkpoints they have access to, in order to move throughout the West Bank.
Israeli settler movement to the West Bank and the expansion of communities has accelerated since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023. A U.N. Human Rights Office report found that between November 2023 and October 2024, construction plans were put in place for over 10,300 new housing units within existing Israeli settlements.
The report stated: 'Dozens of unauthorised roads have been paved by settlers and the army around settlements and outposts, helping to connect them while blocking Palestinians' movement and enabling further seizure of their land.'
This rise in the settler population in the West Bank has been coupled with an increase in violence towards Palestinians. Between Jan. 1, 2024, and April 30, 2025, at least 616 Palestinians, including 115 children, had been killed by settlers or the Israeli military according to the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA).
In the same period, OCHA recorded 1,936 incidents of violence towards Palestinians, with 41,272 being displaced in the West Bank. These trends have been on the rise since 2020.
Contact us at letters@time.com.
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