The government on Sunday formally announced that 11 new settlements will be established in the West Bank, along with the legalization or recognition of eight illegal outposts and neighborhoods of existing settlements as new official settlements.

The new settlements spanning the length and breadth of the West Bank had been detailed in a resolution proposed by Defense Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and were approved by the security cabinet on December 12.

Smotrich said the announcement was aimed at blocking a Palestinian state.

The newly recognized settlements are Kida, Esh Kodesh, Givat Harel, Mishol, Kochav Hashachar-North, Nof Gilad, Ganim, Kadim, Shalem, Har Bezek, Reihanit, Rosh Ha’ayin-East, Tammun, P’nei Kedem, Yatziv, Ya’ar El Keren, Allenby, Yitav-West, and Nahal Doron.

About half of the outposts are located deep inside the West Bank, while the others are dispersed more or less evenly along the Green Line that separates the territory from Israel.

Some of the outposts have been in place for decades. For example, Givat Harel was established in 1998, and nearby Esh Kodesh in 2000, according to settlement watchdog Peace Now.

Ganim and Kadim were evacuated under the terms of the 2005 Disengagement, in which Israel withdrew unilaterally from Gaza and four settlements in the northern Samaria district of the West Bank. The other two, Homesh and........

© The Times of Israel