Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has announced the establishment of 22 new Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which risks further complicating Israel's tense relations with much of the international community.
"We have taken a historic decision on settlement development: 22 new settlements in Judea and Samaria," far-right minister Smotrich said, using the name by which Israelis refer to the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, AFP reported.
According to a map released by Likud, the right-wing party of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the 22 planned settlements are scattered across the West Bank, from north to south and through the center, further tearing up the territory mined by Israeli settlements.
Israeli colonisation is regularly condemned by the UN as illegal under international law and as one of the main obstacles to a lasting peace settlement between Israelis and Palestinians, as it prevents the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
Smotrich's announcement comes after US President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Whitkoff, indicated that he had a "very good feeling" about the possibility of a ceasefire in Gaza after 600 days of war between Israel and Hamas.
It also comes at a time when France is due to co-chair, with Saudi Arabia, a UN conference in June aimed at promoting a so-called "two-state" peace solution: Israel and an independent and fully sovereign Palestine living together in peace and understanding. | BGNES