Smotrich announces 'revolution' in West Bank settlement expansion

BEIRUT — Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that Israel has launched a "revolution in settlements," which he claims will see illegal outposts expand beyond the occupied West Bank toward the Negev and Galilee, Qatar’s Al Jazeera channel reported Tuesday.

The far-right minister’s message, posted on his X account, follows the Israeli government’s recent approval of the creation of 13 new settlements in the center of the occupied West Bank.

These settlements, considered illegal under international law, will be built in strategic areas of the West Bank, where, according to Israeli officials, they will help strengthen Israel’s control over the occupied Palestinian territory.

The project focuses on strategic corridors along Route 60 — the main north-south axis connecting major Palestinian cities such as Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem — as well as areas extending east toward the Jordan Valley.

Palestinian officials have warned that this expansion will further isolate occupied East Jerusalem, long considered the capital of a future Palestinian state, from the rest of the West Bank, thus undermining any prospects for a two-state solution.