Israel approves 13 new settlements in the occupied West Bank
Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to build 13 new settlements in the central occupied West Bank, concentrated in the Binyamin region northwest of Jerusalem and west of Ramallah along Route 60 and toward the Jordan Valley. A first phase of four to six settlements is set to begin in the coming months, and several existing pastoral outposts would be formally legalized to qualify for government funding.
Officials described the aim as linking settlement blocs, securing strategic hilltops, and restricting Palestinian territorial continuity — the practical effect of which is to carve the West Bank into disconnected pockets. That matters because contiguous territory is a precondition for any viable Palestinian state; concentrating construction along the corridors between Palestinian population centers makes such continuity harder to achieve regardless of a future negotiated line.
The move continues a sharp acceleration in settlement activity: new outposts rose from an average of about eight a year between 2012 and 2022 to 86 in 2025. More than 700,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Palestinian authorities called the plan a “dangerous escalation” and a violation of international law, which broadly regards the settlements as illegal.