Israel's security cabinet approves plan to separate 13 Jewish settlements in occupied West Bank

Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan to separate 13 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. 

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich celebrated the move and said the settlements would be recognised as independent from their surrounding communities. 

"We continue to lead a revolution of normalisation and regulation in the settlements. Instead of hiding and apologising – we raise the flag, build and settle. This is another important step on the path to actual sovereignty in Judea and Samaria," Smotrich said, using Israel's term for the West Bank.

"Recognising each of them as an independent settlement is an important step that will greatly assist in their advancement and development." 

The Palestinian foreign ministry criticised the move as disregarding international legitimacy and resolutions.

Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, land that Israel captured in 1967. Most countries consider Israel's settlements on territory seized in the war to be illegal.