Israel Smotrich announces ‘change’ in West Bank settlement expansion | East Jerusalem News

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has announced that Israel has implemented a “humanitarian reform” expansion, which he says will see illegal settlements continue from the West Bank to the Negev and the Galilee.

The right-wing minister’s note on page X follows the Israeli minister recent approval to establish 13 new villages in the central West Bank.

The settlements, which are considered illegal under international law, will be located in the troubled West Bank, which Israeli officials say will help control the Palestinian state.

The project focuses on corridors along Route 60 – the central north-south corridor connecting major Palestinian cities such as Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem – as well as the section leading east to the Jordan Valley.

Palestinian officials have warned that the expansion would further isolate East Jerusalem, long considered the capital of a future Palestinian state, from the West Bank, undermining any hope of a two-state solution.

There has been a push to increase the number of settlers since 2022 when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed the most far-reaching government in Israel’s history, including ministers leading the immigration movement. This has led to an unprecedented increase in government investment in settlement expansion, according to the Palestinian Forum for Israel Study (MADAR).

After doing about eight sessions a year between 2012 and 2022, this number rose to 32 in 2023. The process increased in 2024 with 62 new centers established, supported by 75 million shekels ($20m) in government funding. In 2025, the increase further increased to a total of 86 new sites in the West Bank.

About 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, and 250,000 in East Jerusalem, which are considered illegal under international law.

The increase in adoption has been associated with a brutal campaign against the Palestinian people. A recent United Nations study predicts a 130 percent increase in Israeli attacks on Palestinian villages and agricultural areas in the West Bank from 2023.

On Friday, settlers destroyed a main power line in the village of al-Maniyareduce power in the community and cause more fear.

That same day, settlers destroyed greenhouses near Tulkarem, tearing down protective nets and destroying the family’s businesses. In the north-east of Jerusalem, the inhabitants of the country seized the Ein Rawabi spring, which many Bedouin families rely on to water their 1,300 sheep.

Palestinians are also being driven from their homes, as can be seen in the village of Jalud at the same time. Overall, it shows a well-organized campaign by settlers to destroy infrastructure and force Palestinians from their homes.

In the month of May alone, the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC) documented 1,659 attacks by Israeli soldiers and West Bank residents, with the perpetrators of 551 of those incidents. The violence started in Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron, causing them to destroy, uproot or burn 7,222 trees, including more than 3,300 olive trees which are a source of income for many Palestinian families.

The Israeli government has also encouraged the demolition of Palestinian homes with 70 demolitions carried out in May, destroying 155 Palestinian homes across the West Bank and Jerusalem. The government of Jerusalem suffered a lot because 50 buildings were demolished in one month.

Since October 8, 2023 – and in line with the genocidal war in Gaza – the combined violence of the Israeli army and residents of the occupied West Bank has resulted in the killing of 1,175 Palestinians and the injury of 12,919. At the same time, approximately 24,000 Palestinians have been arrested and 33,000 have been displaced from their homes.

Mohammad Mansour contributed to this report.