"The security cabinet secretly decided to establish 34 new settlements," Peace Now said in a statement released late on Thursday.

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.

In response, the Palestinian resistance group Hamas said the move “once again confirms the occupation's schemes and crimes aimed at the Judaization of Palestinian geography,” adding that it is “a blatant exploitation of the regional situation and international distraction.”

According to Israeli 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 Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.

Hamas said "that this plan, like other settlement plans, is null and void, and will not change the reality on the ground in any way, nor will it grant the occupation any legitimacy."

Hamad added that "Palestinian people remain steadfast on their land, committed to their national rights, and the terrorism and brutality of the criminal enemy will not deter them from confronting and thwarting the policies of Judaization and annexation." 

Israel has occupied the West Bank, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem since 1967.

Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 jewish settlers now live there in settlements on Palestinian lands, 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.

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

* This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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