On December 21, 2025, Israel's security cabinet approved 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank—the largest single authorization in recent months and a nearly 50 percent increase in total settlements under the current government. The decision, announced by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, includes retroactive legalization of previously unauthorized outposts and the re-establishment of Kadim and Ganim, two settlements evacuated during the 2005 Gaza disengagement. The move came as U.S.-led efforts to stabilize Gaza increasingly reference a "credible pathway" to Palestinian statehood, a prospect Smotrich explicitly vowed to "block on the ground."
This is not routine permitting. It is a strategic pre-emption: while Washington and the United Nations attempt to graft a political horizon onto the Gaza ceasefire framework, Israel's far-right coalition is operationalizing ideological commitments to permanent control over the West Bank. The timing and scope signal an intent to render territorial contiguity—and thus any viable Palestinian state—physically impossible before diplomatic pressure can crystallize. Peace Now reports that the number of settlements rose from 141 in 2022 to 210 following this approval; Smotrich's office says 69 new settlements have been authorized in recent years.