Jerusalem: Israel's Security Cabinet has approved a plan to separate and legalize 13 settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the decision on Sunday, highlighting it as a significant move towards achieving sovereignty in the region.

According to Anadolu Agency, the decision was made during a Cabinet meeting held on Saturday night. Smotrich emphasized that the move is part of a broader strategy to normalize and regulate settlements, asserting it as a step towards establishing actual sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, referring to the West Bank.

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas has condemned the Israeli decision, labeling it a "desperate attempt to impose a fait accompli." Hamas stated that Smotrich's comments indicate that the settlements are part of a colonization project aiming to displace Palestinians, seize their land and holy sites, and implement an apartheid regime, violating international and humanitarian laws and conventions.

Hamas has urged the international community to intervene and halt Israel's settlement expansion in the West Bank. Palestinian reports estimate that by the end of 2024, approximately 770,000 illegal Israeli settlers could reside in 180 settlements and 256 outposts across the occupied territory.

The United Nations considers all Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories illegal under international law, warning that their continued expansion undermines efforts for a two-state solution. Tensions remain high in the West Bank, with at least 937 Palestinians killed and over 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and settlers since the onset of the Gaza conflict on October 7, 2023, as per the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.