Palestine Slams Israel’s Move to Approve 34 Settlements in West Bank

(MENAFN) The Palestinian Presidency has issued a sharp condemnation of Israel's approval of 34 new settlements across the West Bank, denouncing the move as a "dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation" of international law and United Nations resolutions.

In a press statement carried by a Palestinian news agency, the Presidency declared all settlement activity in occupied Palestinian territory illegal under international law, citing most recently UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which affirmed that settlement construction in occupied Palestinian land runs contrary to international law and must be brought to a complete halt.

The statement pulled no punches in characterizing the broader intent behind the decision, warning that the "dangerous decision represents a further Israeli step to implement annexation, expansionist, and displacement plans, the consequences of which will be borne by the extremist right-wing Israeli government, which insists on igniting the region and dragging it into a further cycle of violence and escalation."
The Presidency issued a direct appeal to the international community — and specifically the U.S. administration — to intervene without delay to stop what it called "dangerous unilateral measures" and to exert meaningful pressure on Israel to abandon its "escalatory policies and ongoing violations" against the Palestinian people and their land.

The statement reaffirmed the Palestinian people's unwavering commitment to their legitimate national rights, chief among them the establishment of an independent state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. It closed with a resolute declaration that Israeli decisions "will not legitimize the occupation, and all settlements are destined to disappear."

PLO official Mu'ayyad Sha'ban, head of the Commission Against the Wall and Settlements in the Palestine Liberation Organization, echoed the condemnation with equal force, branding the Israeli decision "an extremely dangerous leap in the accelerated colonial settlement project on Palestinian land."

In a separate press statement, Sha'ban warned that the decision, with its "unprecedented scale in terms of the number of sites, reaching 34 settlement outposts, aims to further fragment Palestinian geography and isolate its communities." He urged the international community to move beyond statements and adopt concrete deterrent measures consistent with its declared opposition to settlements — and to hold Israel accountable for what he described as grave and ongoing violations.

Israeli public radio Kan reported that the Israeli Security Cabinet formally approved the plan to establish the 34 new settlements in a single phase, the largest such approval in the country's history.

Israel seized control of the West Bank during the 1967 war and has maintained a settlement presence there ever since — a reality the international community has never recognized as legitimate. The scale of that presence is staggering: a 2025 UN report recorded more than 700,000 Israeli settlers living across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in violation of international law, alongside 3.3 million Palestinians inhabiting the same territory.

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