Maale Adumin, one among a number of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Picture: Ilan Rosenberg/Reuters
Israel’s security cabinet has approved a plan to separate and legalise 13 settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, a move that has drawn sharp criticism from international observers and human rights organisations who view it as a direct violation of international law.
On Sunday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the decision that would separate the settlements from their neighbouring communities. This represents the latest expansion in the Palestinian territory.
“We continue to lead a revolution of normalisation and regulation in the settlements. Instead of hiding and apologising – we raise the flag, build and settle. This is another important step on the path to actual sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said on social media platform X, using Israel’s term for the West Bank.
The settlement expansion comes amid a broader pattern of Israeli control over Palestinian territories. According to a recent report by the Palestine Liberation Organization’s National Bureau for Land Defense and Settlement Resistance, illegal Israeli settlers have carried out more than 5 350 acts of violence against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank over the past decade.
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International Response
Germany has strongly condemned Israel’s decision, with a foreign office spokesperson in Berlin stating: “We strongly condemn this decision. It promotes an expansive settlement policy that actively undermines the division of the two-state solution”.
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas described the settlement expansion as a “desperate attempt to impose a fait accompli” and called on the international community to take action to stop Israel’s illegal settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.
Professor Thuli Madonsela, professor of law holding a chair in social justice at Stellenbosch University, emphasised that the settlement expansion violates international law.
“The expansion of Israeli settlements violates international law regarding territorial integrity just generally, but most importantly the ICJ … issued its opinion in July 2022 and it made clear that the expansion of settlements is unlawful and that it is in violation of international law, particularly the right to self-determination by Palestinians,” Madonsela stated, in an interview with Salaamedia.
She further noted the challenges of enforcing international law: “There are no police to arrest people who break the laws and it relies on countries to enforce it. What’s left now is for countries to back the court’s decision. What should happen now is for the UN Security Council to review this matter and then decide what sanctions to impose against Israel”.
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UN Human Rights Office Report
A recent report by the UN Human Rights Office found that the Israeli government “ratcheted up settlement of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, transferring its own population into the territory and unlawfully demolishing Palestinian homes, while settler violence increased in a climate of continuing impunity”.
The report, covering the period from November 2023 to October 2024, details significant expansion of Israeli settlements, with plans to construct over 20 000 housing units in East Jerusalem alone and more than 10 300 units in the rest of the West Bank.
“Israel’s settlement policy, its acts of annexation, and related discriminatory legislation and measures are in breach of international law, as the International Court of Justice has confirmed, and violate Palestinians’ right to self-determination,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said.
Around 700 000 Israeli settlers currently live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, land Israel captured in 1967 during the six-day war. Most countries consider Israel’s settlements on territory seized in the war to be illegal, though Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land.
Israel’s pro-settler politicians have been emboldened by the return to the White House of US President Donald Trump, with Smotrich and other far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition calling for Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank.
Professor Madonsela called for diplomatic action, stating: “I would expect all countries that respect international law to call the Israeli ambassador in their country to say, ‘Come and explain this’.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has urged the international community to take meaningful action on Israel’s advancing settlement expansion in the West Bank.
“Israel must abide by the International Court of Justice’s ruling and cease immediately all new settlement activities, evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory and make reparations for the damage caused by decades of illegal settlement,” Türk said.
