JERUSALEM - Israel's security cabinet has approved the establishment of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, bringing the number of settlements legalized or approved over the past three years to 69, an official said on Sunday.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a pro-settler politician, said in a statement that Israel's security cabinet approved the proposal that he "advanced together with Defense Minister Israel Katz to declare and authorize 19 new settlements," without specifying when the approval was granted.
The approvals cover both entirely new settlements and the retroactive authorization of settlements built without permits from Israeli authorities.
Smotrich said the step is part of a broader effort to strengthen Jewish settlement across the West Bank, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and which Palestinians seek as the core of a future independent state.
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He said the move is preventing "the de facto establishment" of a Palestinian state. "We will continue to develop, build and settle the land of our ancestral inheritance," he said.
The approval comes amid heightened international criticism of Israeli settlement activity, which most countries regard as illegal under international law.
Israel has accelerated settlement approvals since the formation of the current right-wing government, which includes parties that strongly oppose Palestinian statehood and advocate expanding Israeli control over the territory.
Palestinian officials have warned that continued settlement expansion undermines prospects for a two-state solution and fuels tensions on the ground, while Western allies have repeatedly urged Israel to halt such moves.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said its air force carried out several strikes near the "yellow line" in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, hitting five people, while Palestinian media reported that at least three people were killed.
An Israeli military spokesperson said Israeli forces struck "several suspects" in northern Gaza, who were gathering near the so-called "yellow line," a demarcation marking areas where Israeli troops remain deployed despite a ceasefire that took effect on Oct 10.
The spokesperson said that troops initially fired warning shots to disperse the group and later carried out air strikes on three individuals after they crossed the line.
In two additional incidents in northern Gaza, the air force struck two other individuals who crossed the demarcation line and "approached Israeli troops, posing an immediate threat," the spokesperson said.
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Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that at least three Palestinians were killed early on Sunday in the Shuja'iyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City. It said one civilian was killed in a drone strike on a group of residents, while two others were killed in separate drone strikes near a gas station in the area.
Israel has continued near-daily attacks in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, bringing the number of Palestinians killed since Oct 11 to 404, according to Gaza's health authorities.
According to the authorities' Thursday update, Israeli military operations since October 2023 have killed at least 70,669 Palestinians and injured more than 171,165 others.
