AFP, Ramallah

Israel has approved the establishment of 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli media reports and the watchdog Peace Now, which said the decision was taken “secretly” in early April.

“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.

The decision has not been officially published by any government body, and the defence ministry, in charge of settlements in the occupied West Bank, declined to respond to AFP’s questions.

“We are not addressing this issue,” a spokesperson for the ministry told AFP.

According to news 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 settlements are illegal under international law.

News website Ynet reported that military chief Eyal Zamir warned during the security cabinet meeting that took place on April 1 that the army could “collapse” because of increasing demands on its manpower.