Israel's government has approved a significant expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move Palestinian officials and international human rights groups condemn as a deliberate effort to destroy the prospects for a Palestinian state and annex the territory. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced final approval for 764 new housing units across three settlements, continuing an aggressive policy that has seen over 51,000 units approved under his tenure.
The Palestinian Presidency condemned the approval as an unacceptable violation of international law and a deliberate attempt to "ignite the region" and "drag it into a cycle of violence and war". Palestinian officials called on the U.S. administration to pressure Israel to reverse these policies, which they described as "theft of Palestinian land". The anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now accused the Israeli government of "racing toward de facto annexation," stating that such expansion entrenches an "illegitimate apartheid regime". This approval is part of a larger, unprecedented five-year plan by Smotrich, allocating 2.7 billion shekels (roughly $843 million) to expand settlements, build new ones, and relocate Israeli army bases deeper into the West Bank—a plan Israeli media describes as actively reshaping the territory to create irreversible facts on the ground.
This government-driven expansion occurs alongside a documented crisis of violence by Israeli settlers, which has reached historic levels. The UN recorded over 260 settler attacks in October 2025 alone, the highest monthly count since it began monitoring in 2006. These attacks, often carried out with impunity, include the burning of mosques and factories, assaults on farmers during the olive harvest, and brutal attacks on civilians and journalists. The UN and human rights groups state that this violence, coupled with increased military raids, home demolitions, and movement restrictions, is forcibly displacing Palestinian communities and deepening a severe humanitarian crisis. Senior Israeli military commanders have condemned the settler violence, but critics argue it is enabled by a government that provides settlements with funding, legal backing, and weapons.
The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlements in territories occupied since 1967 to be illegal under international law, a position reaffirmed by numerous UN Security Council resolutions. In late 2025, the UN General Assembly again voted decisively to condemn settlement activities, with 146 member states affirming their illegality. However, analysts note a concerning shift in recent diplomatic efforts. A November 2025 UN Security Council resolution on Gaza governance notably omitted references to key resolutions that establish the illegality of settlements and the inadmissibility of acquiring territory by force. This omission, experts warn, creates political cover for a "security-led" approach that undermines the established legal foundations for Palestinian statehood and normalizes ongoing occupation and expansion.