AMMAN — The Arab League has condemned a decision by Israel’s security cabinet to approve the establishment of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank.

 

The Cairo-based organisation’s Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that the move represents a “blatant challenge to the international community’s rejection of settlement activity and a violation of international law, which affirms the illegality of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory.”

 

Spokesman for the Arab League secretary-general Jamal Rushdi said that the “continued expansion of illegal settlements aims to prevent the establishment of a geographically contiguous Palestinian state and reflects the nature of the Israeli government, which is dominated by extremists and settlers.”

 

Rushdi quoted Aboul Gheit as stressing that the settlement expansion cannot legitimise the settlements under any circumstances.

 

He also stressed that violence by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank constitutes a “form of terrorism carried out with the knowledge of, and under the protection of, the occupying authorities.”

 

Israel's security cabinet approved the establishment of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move the country's far-right finance minister said on Sunday was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

 

The decision brings the total number of settlements approved over the past three years to 69, according to a statement from the office of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

 

The latest approvals come days after the United Nations said the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank -- all of which are considered illegal under international law -- had reached its highest level since at least 2017.

 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has recently condemned what he described as Israel's "relentless" expansion of settlements in the occupied territory.

 

It "continues to fuel tensions, impede access by Palestinians to their land and threaten the viability of a fully independent, democratic, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian State", he said earlier this month.

 

Since the start of the war in Gaza, calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state have proliferated, with several European countries, Canada and Australia recently moving to formally recognise such a state, drawing rebukes from Israel.

 

'Sharp increase'

 

A UN report said the expansion of settlements was at its highest point since 2017, when the United Nations began tracking such data.

 

"These figures represent a sharp increase compared to previous years," Guterres said, noting an average of 12,815 housing units were added annually between 2017 and 2022.

 

"These developments are further entrenching the unlawful Israeli occupation and violating international law and undermining the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination."