Israel approves hundreds more houses in 3 settlements in the occupied
West Bank
[December 11, 2025]
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has given the go-ahead for the
construction of 764 more houses in three Jewish settlements in the
occupied West Bank, a decision likely to further stoke tensions as a
watchdog group accused the Israeli government of moving toward “de facto
annexation” of the Palestinian territory.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Wednesday that the Higher
Planning Council, the body in charge of settlement construction plans in
the West Bank, approved 478, 230, and 56 housing units in the Hashmonaim,
Beitar Illit and Givat Ze’ev settlements, respectively.
Smotrich, who formulates settlement policy and is a settler himself,
called the council's decision part of a “clear strategic move to
strengthen settlement and ensure continuity of life, security and
growth." Wednesday's decision puts the total of housing units approved
in the West Bank since Smotrich assumed his post at 51,370, he said in
the statement.
The settlements are thought by most of the international community to be
illegal under international law and the U.N. Security Council has passed
numerous resolutions against their expansion.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas,
condemed the move, saying the approval was part of a settlement policy
that "aims to ignite the region” and “drag it into a cycle of violence
and war.”
He demanded that the Trump administration pressure Israel to stop
settlement expansion "in order to ensure the success of President
Trump’s efforts and endeavors to stop the war and achieve stability in
the region.”
Anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now on Wednesday accused the
Israeli government of “racing toward de facto annexation" of the West
Bank, adding that 764 additional housing units “is not unusual,” in
reference to the increasing number of approvals.
“This is a double injustice: it entrenches an illegitimate apartheid
regime and will come at a heavy cost the day Israel is forced to
evacuate the settlements,” the group said in a statement.
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The decision comes less than a month after an Israeli government
document showed that Israel plans to seize parts of a major West
Bank historic site. In August, Israeli authorities approved
construction on a controversial settlement project in the territory
that would effectively cut it in two.
The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come
under heavy criticism from Palestinians and rights groups for
accelerating settlement expansion in the West Bank, which they say
is aimed at preventing the establishment of a future Palestinian
state there.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza — areas
claimed by the Palestinians for a future state — in the 1967 war. It
has settled over 500,000 Jews in the West Bank in addition to over
200,000 more in contested east Jerusalem.
Israel’s government is dominated by far-right proponents of the
settler movement, including Smotrich and Cabinet minister Itamar
Ben-Gvir, who oversees the nation’s police force.
Settler expansion has been compounded by a surge of attacks against
Palestinians in the West Bank in recent months.
During October’s olive harvest, settlers across the territory
launched an average of eight attacks daily, according to the United
Nations humanitarian office, the most since it began collecting data
in 2006. The attacks continued in November, with the U.N. recording
at least 136 more by Nov. 24.
Settlers burned cars, desecrated mosques, ransacked industrial
plants and destroyed cropland. Israeli authorities have done little
beyond issuing occasional condemnations of the violence.
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