Overview

• Israel’s Security Cabinet approved the plan on May 29 under Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defense Minister Israel Katz, legalizing outposts and marking the biggest settlement expansion in decades.
• The construction plan includes reviving Homesh and Sa-Nur, evacuated in 2005, as part of a push to solidify Israeli presence across the West Bank.
• Israeli officials frame the expansion as a strategic move to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state by reinforcing sovereignty claims.
• The UN and EU, backed by human rights organizations and UK officials, condemn the settlements as illegal and warn they undermine a viable two-state solution.
• The Palestinian Authority denounces the announcement as a dangerous escalation that further diminishes any prospect of Palestinian statehood.