Members of the Israeli security forces walk along the road leading to the al-Tireh neighborhood at the western entrance to Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on July 14, 2026. (Credit: Zain Jaafar/AFP)
An Israeli NGO on Wednesday condemned a government plan allocating about 2.3 billion euros to several thousand new housing units in settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Since coming to power in 2022, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has encouraged the expansion of settlements, all of which are illegal under international law.
Earlier this week, Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich signed a framework agreement providing for new investments in settlements in the northern West Bank. The Israeli security cabinet also approved a budget of 1.3 billion shekels ($434 million) to establish 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, increasing tensions over a territory widely considered central to the prospect of a future Palestinian state.
"This is another significant step in the settlement revolution we are leading in Judea and Samaria," Smotrich wrote on X, using the biblical name most Israeli leaders use to refer to the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
"As part of this agreement, around 12,000 new homes will be built, accompanied by an investment of more than eight billion shekels [about 2.3 billion euros] in infrastructure, public institutions and the development of settlements," the far-right minister continued.
The anti-settlement Israeli NGO Peace Now criticized the decision, accusing the government of squandering public funds and reinforcing its occupation of the West Bank. According to the organization, the measure will complicate any future Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and the creation of a Palestinian state.
"Framework agreements are used to enable the rapid development of large-scale projects," Peace Now spokesperson Hagit Ofran told AFP.
She said the government's announcements would allow it to promise the completion of major settlement projects from which a future government would find it difficult to retreat, regardless of their progress on the ground.
"From the government's perspective, it's a double victory: unchecked construction in the settlements, while binding the hands of the next government with commitments that will make it difficult to abandon the irresponsible policy of this awful government," she said.
Since taking office, Netanyahu's government has approved the creation of 102 settlements in the West Bank, according to Peace Now. Excluding East Jerusalem, which Israel occupies and has annexed, more than 500,000 Israelis now live in West Bank settlements among roughly 3 million Palestinians.
Successive Israeli governments have expanded settlements in the Palestinian territory since 1967, but construction has accelerated sharply since the far right joined the ruling coalition at the end of 2022.
