Israel's security cabinet approves 19 new settlements in West Bank: Report

The proposal by the country's Finance Minister and Defence Minister to declare and formalise 19 new settlements in Judea and Samaria was approved by the cabinet

Israel's security cabinet approved the establishment of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, bringing the total number approved over the past three years to 69, an official statement said Sunday.

A general view of destroyed houses in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 19, 2025. A famine declared in Gaza in August is now over thanks to improved access for humanitarian aid, the United Nations said on December 19, but warned the food situation in the Palestinian territory remained dire. (Photo by Eyad Baba / AFP) (AFP)

"The proposal by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz to declare and formalise 19 new settlements in Judea and Samaria has been approved by the cabinet," a statement from Smotrich's office said, without specifying when the decision was taken.

"On the ground, we are blocking the establishment of a Palestinian terror state. We will continue to develop, build, and settle the land of our ancestral heritage, with faith in the justice of our path," Smotrich said in the statement.