Israel approves 19 illegal West Bank settlements in bid to block Palestinian statehood

Israeli leaders seek to reverse the 2005 Disengagement plan

News Desk

DEC 21, 2025

https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-approves-19-illegal-west-bank-settlements-in-bid-to-block-palestinian-statehood

Israel formally announced the approval of plans to establish 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank as part of its continued bid to make the establishment of a Palestinian state impossible, Israeli media reported on 21 December.

The plan includes constructing 11 new settlements and recognizing eight existing illegal outposts and settlement “neighborhoods” as official settlements.

Outposts in the West Bank are illegal under Israeli law. They are established by Jewish settlers in hopes that they will later be given legal status and grow into official settlements.

All outposts and settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, which does not allow a state to transfer its citizens into territory conquered by war.

The new settlements, which span the length and breadth of the West Bank, were approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet on 12 December but formally announced on Sunday.

Finance Minister and settler leader Bezalel Smotrich said the goal of establishing the new settlements was to block the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“We are stopping the establishment of a Palestinian terrorist state on the ground. We will continue to develop, build, and settle in the land of our ancestors, with faith in the righteousness of the path,” Smotrich stated.

Two of the 19 new settlements, Ganim and Kadim, were evacuated as part of the 2005 Disengagement plan in which Israel withdrew unilaterally from Gaza and four settlements in the northern West Bank.

Then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agreed to the Disengagement Plan in an effort to freeze peace negotiations that would lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state and to consolidate Israeli control over the West Bank.

However, the Disengagement Plan angered leaders of Israel’s settler movement, who rejected any withdrawal from stolen Palestinian land under any circumstances. Since that time, they have advocated for restoring the four West Bank settlements and going to war in Gaza to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian population and reestablish settlements there, most notably Gush Katif.

After the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza in October 2023, Israeli lawmakers passed legislation allowing the settlements evacuated in 2005 to be reestablished.

Two of the four, Homesh and Sa Nur, were formally reestablished in May this year.

“After twenty years, we are righting a painful injustice and returning Ganim and Kadim to the settlement map, alongside other important settlements throughout Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich added while making the announcement on Sunday.

Speaking at an Israeli Police conference in September, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he wants to build settlements “on the beach” in Gaza.

“Settlement leads to security. The time has come for Jewish settlement, to encourage immigration, and to pass the death penalty law for terrorists,” he added.
Israel conquered the West Bank, east Jerusalem, Gaza, and the Syrian Golan Heights during the Six-Day War in 1967. Around 750,000 Israeli Jews now live illegally in settlements on occupied Palestinian lands.