New settlement escalation.. The occupation approves the construction of 19 settlements in the West Bank

In a settlement escalation described by officials in the occupation government as "historic," the mini-ministerial council of the occupation authorities approved, on Sunday, the establishment of 19 new settlements deep in the occupied West Bank.

With this decision, the number of settlements approved over the past three years rises to 69 settlements, enhancing the policy of imposing a fait accompli and fragmenting Palestinian lands.

A statement issued by the office of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that this step was coordinated with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to approve and organize these spatial outposts that are characterized by high strategic importance.

Prominent among these projects is the re-establishment of the "Ganim" and "Kedem" settlements in the north of the West Bank, which had been evacuated in previous years.

Concurrently with this announcement, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned in an official report submitted to the Security Council that settlement expansion reached a "record" level this year 2025, the highest since the start of regular monitoring in 2017.

Guterres revealed that 2025 saw the approval or tendering of approximately 47,390 settlement housing units, compared to about 26,170 units in 2024, representing a huge leap from the previous years' average of around 12,800 units annually.

Guterres condemned this ongoing expansion, affirming that it undermines the possibility of a contiguous and sovereign Palestinian state, and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law.

He indicated that these developments work to "entrench the illegal occupation" and deprive Palestinians of their right to self-determination.

The UN report did not limit itself to the settlement file but condemned the "alarming" increase in settler violence against Palestinian civilians, noting that some of these attacks occur in the presence or with the support of occupation security forces.

Guterres expressed his deep concern over the occupation's military operations that led to hundreds of deaths and the destruction of infrastructure and homes.

It is noteworthy that the number of settlers in the West Bank (excluding East Jerusalem) has exceeded 500,000 settlers, living amidst about three million Palestinians.

Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023, and despite the ceasefire that came into effect on October 10 last year, violence in the West Bank has not subsided; where more than a thousand Palestinians have been killed by the fire of occupation soldiers or settlers, while 44 "Israelis" fell in attacks or during military operations, according to official statistics.