Israel approves 34 new West Bank settlements

Tel Aviv blocks Spain from US-led centre monitoring Gaza Truce

WEST BANK: Israel has approved the establishment of 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli media reports and the watchdog Peace Now, which said the decision was taken “secretly” in early April.

“The security cabinet secretly decided to establish 34 new settlements,” Peace Now said in a statement.

The 34 settlements come on top of 68 others already approved since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government came to power in 2022.

The decision has not been officially published by any government body, and the defence ministry, in charge of settlements in the occupied West Bank, declined to respond to questions.

“We are not addressing this issue,” a spokesperson for the ministry said.

According to news channel i24News, 10 of the 34 settlements are already existing outposts, which are illegal under Israeli law, but will now be retroactively legalised under the decision.

The remaining 24 are yet to be built. All settlements are illegal under international law.

News website Ynet reported that military chief Eyal Zamir warned during the security cabinet meeting that took place on April 1 that the army could “collapse” because of increasing demands on its manpower.

That included the legalisation of dozens of outposts, granting them official settlement status and therefore protection from Israeli troops.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis now live there in settlements, among some three million Palestinians.

Settlement expansion has been a policy under successive Israeli governments since 1967, but has accelerated significantly under the current Netanyahu-led coalition, widely regarded as one of the most right-wing in Israel’s history.

Rights groups say approvals of new settlements, land seizures and settler violence have further increased since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

Meanwhile, Israel said on Friday it had blocked Spain from participating in the work of a US-led center established to help stabilize post-war Gaza following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

The Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Kiryat Gat was set up after the ceasefire took effect on October 10, with the goal of monitoring the truce and facilitating the flow of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.

As part of the CMCC, military personnel and diplomats from several other countries, including France, the UK, and the United Arab Emirates, are also present and participate in meetings on security and humanitarian issues in Gaza, devastated by more than two years of war.

Representatives of Spain have also participated in CMCC’s work to date.

But on Friday, Israel’s foreign ministry announced it was preventing Spain from attending CMCC meetings.

“The Sanchez government’s anti-Israel bias is so egregious that it has lost all capability to serve as a constructive actor in implementing US President Donald Trump‘s peace plan in the CMCC,” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a statement.

“Spain will not be permitted to participate in the CMCC in Kiryat Gat.”

Relations between Israel and Spain have deteriorated significantly since Madrid recognized a Palestinian state in 2024.

Both countries have withdrawn their ambassadors.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s war on Gaza, which broke out after the Palestinian movement Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Monitoring Desk