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The latest United Nations (UN) report shows that the expansion of settlements
Israel
in the occupied West Bank reached its highest level since at least 2017, when the UN began tracking such data.
According to a report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in 2025, plans for nearly 47,390 housing units were advanced, approved, or put out to tender, compared with about 26,170 in 2024.”
Guterres condemned the Zionist state’s expansion, which he called “relentless”.He also stated that the expansion of settlements continued to fuel tensions.
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“Settlement expansion hampers Palestinians’ access to their land, and threatens the survival of a fully independent, democratic, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian State,” Guterres explained.
An average of 12,815 housing units were added annually between 2017 and 2022. “These figures show a sharp increase compared to previous years,” Guterres, as reported
AFP
.
On Friday (12/12), the Israeli cabinet decided to grant legal status to 19 settlements in the West Bank.Israeli media reported that two of the settlements were vacated 20 years ago under a withdrawal aimed at improving the country’s security and economy.
Some of these settlements have been recently established, while others are older.The move to legalize settlements in the West Bank, territory the Palestinians seek for their future state, was proposed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Most world powers consider Israel’s settlements, on land it captured in the 1967 war, to be illegal.A UN Security Council resolution has called on Israel to halt all settlement activities.
Excluding East Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, around 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, along with around three million Palestinian residents.
“These developments further strengthen Israel’s unlawful occupation and violate international law, and undermine the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination,” Guterres said.
The UN chief also condemned the ongoing escalation of violence and tensions in the occupied West Bank.He cited as an example operations carried out by the Israeli army in the northern region that have killed “a large number” of people, displaced indigenous residents, and destroyed homes and other infrastructure.
Violence in the West Bank has surged since Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel.Since then, more than 70,373 people have died in the Israel-Gaza war with more than 171,079 injured.
In the West Bank, Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 1,022 Palestinians, both militants and civilians, since the start of the conflict, according to a tally.
AFP
based on Palestinian health ministry figures.
Meanwhile, at least 44 Israelis were killed in the West Bank in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations during the same period.
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