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The nation's top security body has formally approved the establishment of 19 new communities in the disputed West Bank, marking a continued push for settlement expansion.

Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in a settlement and proposed the measure in concert with Defence Minister Israel Katz, asserted that the decision was about blocking the formation of a Palestinian state.

Under international law, Jewish communities in the occupied West Bank are viewed as illegal.

The decision has elicited condemnation from Saudi Arabia. The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has said that Israel's "unceasing" settlement expansion fuels tensions, curtails Palestinian use of land, and undermines the feasibility of a independent Palestinian state.

Increased Unrest and Diplomatic Fallout

Violence in the occupied West Bank has escalated since the war in the Gaza Strip began in the autumn of 2023, further heightening apprehensions that settlement expansion could solidify the Israeli presence and damage the chance for a two-state solution.

The two-state solution refers to the formation of a State of Palestine in the Palestinian territories, with East Jerusalem as its capital, roughly along the boundaries that existed before the 1967 Six-Day Middle East war.

Since taking office in late 2022, the present Israeli government has ramped up the authorization of fresh communities and started the formal recognition for informal outposts, recognising them as "extensions" of existing settlements.

Ongoing Expansion

The most recent approval brings the overall count of communities approved over the past three years to 69, per the figures from the Finance Minister.

These approvals arrive just days after the UN said that construction in settlements had attained its most intense pace since the year 2017.

The newest batch of approvals includes the revival of a pair of settlements — Ganim and Kadim — which were dismantled nearly 20 years ago.

Earlier this year, Israel authorized 22 new communities in the occupied West Bank - what was the largest wave of approvals in many years.

In a related development, the government sanctioned blueprints last summer to construct over three thousand homes in the controversial E1 area between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement, a project that had been stalled for many years amid fierce foreign condemnation.

At that time, the Finance Minister remarked it would "bury the concept of a Palestinian state."

Population Facts and International Reactions

Roughly 700,000 settlers live in about 160 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 seek for a prospective independent state.

Settlement expansion has angered neighboring countries who have steadfastly contended it erodes hopes for a peaceful two-state outcome.

It has also fueled fears about the potential annexing of the occupied West Bank.

Former American President Donald Trump had once admonished Israel about this step, telling TIME magazine that Israel would forfeit its backing from the United States if it occurred.

In a diplomatic shift, the UK - together with other countries including Australia and Canada - formally recognized a Palestinian state, a notable although primarily ceremonial adjustment in foreign policy.

Israel opposed this recognition, with PM Benjamin Netanyahu declaring that a sovereign Palestine "is off the table."