The Israeli security cabinet secretly approved the legalization of more than 30 new settler outposts and farms in the occupied West Bank last month, according to three Israeli sources familiar with the decision.
Unlike past approvals, this move was not publicly announced by Defense Minister Israel Katz or Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, both of whom did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment.
Two sources told CNN that the decision was kept under wraps to avoid international backlash amid rising settler violence against Palestinians since the outbreak of the Iran war.
The authorization is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government’s ongoing effort to expand settlements and consolidate Israel’s control over the West Bank, effectively diminishing the prospects of a future Palestinian state.
Palestinians seek a state in territories captured by Israel during the 1967 war, including the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.
The push to legalize the outposts violates international law, which considers all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank illegal.
While outposts are illegal under both Israeli and international law, settlers have frequently established unauthorized outposts that later receive official approval. Israeli media reports indicate the decision also includes plans for electricity and water infrastructure for the outposts.
According to Israeli NGO Peace Now Settlement Watch, 86 new outposts were established in 2025 alone, marking a record year. Some settlers on these outposts have forcibly displaced Palestinian communities amid violence and harassment.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the move, describing it as “a dangerous escalation and a flagrant violation of international law and UN resolutions.”
A statement from President Mahmoud Abbas’ office said the decision “represents a further Israeli step to implement annexation, expansionist, and displacement plans,” and called on the international community, particularly the US, to intervene immediately.
The decision to legalize the outposts was made during a security cabinet meeting on March 25, coinciding with a surge in settler attacks on Palestinians since the Iran war began.
According to Israeli human rights NGO Yesh Din, 305 incidents of settler violence occurred between February 28 and March 29, averaging more than 10 incidents per day, including assaults, property damage, and land seizures.
Military Strains and Crackdown on Extremists
The Israel Defense Forces recently diverted a combat battalion from the northern border with Lebanon to the West Bank in response to the increase in settler violence. During the cabinet meeting, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir warned that the military is “under severe strain due to manpower shortages and expanded operational demands, including in the West Bank,” according to two Israeli sources briefed on the meeting.
In the same meeting, Netanyahu’s security cabinet approved a directive targeting Jewish “nationalist crimes” in the West Bank, two Israeli officials told CNN.
The directive, first reported by Euronews, instructs the IDF and police to clamp down on settler violence, reinforce troop presence in high-friction areas, and establish a dedicated unit within the Ministry of Defense to address the “Hilltop Youth” phenomenon, far-right extremist religious-nationalist Jewish youth operating in the West Bank.
One official said the directive “was issued by the prime minister after a series of initial internal discussions and then ratified by the cabinet.”
The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
Peace Now condemned the government’s decision, warning of broader consequences, “It is now clear to everyone and the IDF keeps emphasizing this, that establishing settlements harms security, imposes an intolerable burden on the army, and undermines the possibility of resolving the conflict and achieving any form of security or future peace.”
The issue of settler violence and settlement expansion gained attention in Israeli media in late March, after a CNN report showed soldiers echoing settler ideology, speaking of revenge against Palestinians, and detaining and assaulting a CNN crew in the West Bank.
The military’s top general acted swiftly, suspending all operations of the reserve battalion involved in detaining the CNN team and dismissing one soldier from military service.
