Israel earmarks almost $1bn to expand illegal West Bank settlements

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has set aside approximately more than $830m to fund the creation of 17 new settlements in the occupied West Bank over the next five years, according to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot.

The move signals an accelerated push to entrench illegal Jewish-only settlements on Palestinian land, further tightening Israel’s grip on the territory and deepening its system of apartheid and colonisation.