Construction of some settlements continued under each Israeli government for decades. As of last year, more than 130 settlements had been built with the permission of the Israeli government since 1967.
More than 100 unauthorized settlement outposts have been erected since the 1990s, and Israeli authorities are working to legalize many of them retroactively.
More than 500,000 Israeli settlers now live in the West Bank – not counting more than 200,000 in East Jerusalem – along with more than 2.7 million Palestinians. Some of the settlements are home to religious Zionists who believe the area is their biblical right. Many secular and ultra-Orthodox Jews also moved there, mostly for cheaper housing.
This year, the Israeli government had designated a record area of ​​about 6,000 acres as eligible for settlement by March, another sign of Mr. Smotrich’s intention to deepen Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
In March, UN human rights chief Volker Türk condemned the rapid settlement expansion after a UN report showed a “dramatic increase in the intensity, severity and regularity of Israeli settler and state violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, especially from October 7, 2023, which accelerates the displacement of Palestinians from their land.”
Tor Wennesland, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said on Tuesday that signs of rapid settlement and legalization of the outposts undermined the prospects for a two-state solution.
That seems to be the goal of Mr. Smotrich, who strongly opposes Palestinian statehood. He said he would legalize additional outposts in response to any nation announcing its recognition of a Palestinian state.
In the past two months, Spain, Ireland, Norway, Slovenia and Armenia have formally recognized an independent Palestinian state. In a social media post on Thursday, Mr. Smotrich said the latest legalization of settlements was a response to those decisions.
“We will continue to develop the settlements to maintain Israel’s security and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger our existence,” he said.
Lt. Gen. Yehuda Fox, head of Israel’s Central Command, which is responsible for the West Bank, said that since Mr. Smotrich took over, the effort to crack down on illegal settlement construction has dwindled “to the point where it has disappeared.”
Aaron Boxerman contributed to the report.
