&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Israel considers $350 million plan for 61 new West Bank settlements")
Israel's cabinet is discussing a plan to approve a multiyear plan allocating over $350 million to establish 61 new settlements in the occupied West Bank. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is going to lead one of the most substantial settlement expansion initiatives in recent decades. Axios journalist Barak Ravid said on Thursday, citing a draft government decision.
“While the Trump administration - along with governments across Europe and the Middle East - is focused on the escalating crisis with Iran, the Israeli cabinet is expected to approve on Thursday a plan to fund the de facto establishment of 61 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to a draft government decision I obtained,” wrote Axios journalist Barak Ravid on X.
The plan allocates immediate funding for infrastructure, temporary mobile housing, and public facilities before standard, formal planning procedures are legally finalised. The proposal follows a government decision approved last week, allocating roughly $35 million for planning and regulatory work for the settlements in the occupied West Bank.
According to Ravid, many of the settlements are located in sensitive areas such as Highway 90 in the Jordan Valley, in the South Hebron Hills. He highlights the significance, as it's not just in the number and locations but the mechanism, which allows “physical implementation before completing the full statutory planning process”. This is particularly done to undermine any prospect of a Palestinian state.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres expressed concern over the development in a post on the social media platform X, “There are alarming reports of settler violence coming from the occupied West Bank: the demolition of homes, relentless expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, ongoing displacement of Palestinians, the threat of an attempted annexation that would – like the decades-long occupation – have no legal validity. The risk of making a two-State solution impossible – when there is no other viable option. And throughout, the presumption of impunity. These injustices must stop.” He added that all countries without exception must abide by international law. On Monday, the UK, Canada, France, Norway, Australia, and New Zealand imposed coordinated sanctions on the networks financing settler violence.
