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The nation's security cabinet has voted to recognize the recognition of nineteen additional communities in the contested Palestinian territories, signaling a ongoing drive for community development.

Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in a settlement and proposed the move together with Defence Minister Israel Katz, asserted that the move was aimed at preventing the establishment of a sovereign Palestine.

Under international law, Israeli settlements in the disputed territories are considered in violation of international law.

The decision has drawn condemnation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has said that Israel's "relentless" growth of communities exacerbates frictions, curtails Palestinian access to territory, and undermines the feasibility of a sovereign Palestine.

Rising Unrest and Diplomatic Repercussions

Violence in the occupied West Bank has escalated since the hostilities in Gaza started in the autumn of 2023, further heightening fears that settlement expansion could entrench the Israeli presence and weaken the prospects for a two-state solution.

The concept of two states envisions the creation of a State of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Jerusalem's eastern sector as its seat of government, roughly along the lines that existed prior to the 1967 Six-Day Middle East war.

Since coming to power in late 2022, the incumbent government in Jerusalem has greatly accelerated the approval of fresh communities and begun the legalisation process for informal outposts, classifying them as "suburbs" of established settlements.

Sustained Growth

The latest approval pushes the total number of communities authorized over the past three years to sixty-nine, as stated by the Finance Minister.

These authorizations are announced a short time after the UN reported that construction in settlements had reached its most intense pace since the year 2017.

The most recent batch of authorizations encompasses the revival of two communities — Ganim and Kadim — which were evacuated about in 2005.

Earlier this year, the Israeli government approved twenty-two additional settlements in the occupied West Bank - what was the biggest expansion in decades.

In a related development, the Israeli government gave the go-ahead for projects last summer to construct over three thousand residences in the so-called E1 project between the capital and the Maale Adumim settlement, a plan that had been stalled for many years amid fierce international condemnation.

On that occasion, the Finance Minister said it would "put to rest the notion of a Palestinian state."

Population Facts and Global Response

An estimated seven hundred thousand settlers live in approximately 160 settlements in the occupied territories, as per data from the Israel-based anti-settlement group Peace Now. This is territory that Palestinians seek for a future independent state.

Settlement expansion has angered Arab states who have consistently argued it harms chances for a peaceful two-state outcome.

It has furthermore raised anxieties about the potential formal annexation of the disputed territories.

Ex- American President Donald Trump had once admonished Israel about such a move, telling TIME magazine that Israel would lose all its support from the US if it occurred.

In a policy change, the United Kingdom - together with other countries including Australia and Canada - acknowledged a Palestinian state, a significant although primarily ceremonial shift in government policy.

The Israeli government strongly rejected this step, with PM Benjamin Netanyahu asserting that a Palestinian state "is not going to occur."