Israel's cabinet has approved 19 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, bringing the total number of new settlements in recent years to 69, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated on December 21, the Associated Press reported.

The newly recognised settlements are Kida, Esh Kodesh, Givat Harel, Mishol, Kochav Hashachar-North, Nof Gilad, Ganim, Kadim, Shalem, Har Bezek, Reihanit, Rosh Ha'ayin-East, Tammun, P'nei Kedem, Yatziv, Ya'ar El Keren, Allenby, Yitav-West and Nahal Doron, according to The Times of Israel.

The government formally announced that 11 new settlements will be established in the West Bank, along with the legalisation or recognition of eight illegal outposts and neighbourhoods of existing settlements as new official settlements. The new settlements spanning the length and breadth of the West Bank had been detailed in a resolution proposed by Defence Minister Israel Katz and Smotrich. They were approved by the security cabinet on December 12.

Hardline MP Smotrich stated the announcement was aimed at blocking a Palestinian state, which his group of parliamentarians have consistently opposed.

The approval increases the number of settlements in the West Bank by nearly 50% during the current far-right government's tenure. In 2022, there were 141 settlements across the West Bank. After the latest approval, there are 210, according to Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group.

About half of the outposts are located deep inside the West Bank, whilst the others are dispersed along the Green Line that separates the territory from Israel.

The cabinet decision included retroactive legalisation of some previously established settlement outposts or neighbourhoods of existing settlements, and the creation of settlements on land where Palestinians were evacuated, the Finance Ministry stated. Settlements can range in size from a single dwelling to a collection of high-rises.

Two of the settlements legalised are Kadim and Ganim, which were among four West Bank settlements dismantled in 2005 as part of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The government in March 2023 repealed a 2005 act that evacuated the four outposts and barred Israelis from re-entering the areas.

Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 war. It has settled over 500,000 Jews in the West Bank, in addition to over 200,000 in contested East Jerusalem. Settlements are widely considered illegal under international law.