Israel approves over $400m to fund 34 settlements in occupied West Bank

Israel approves over $400m to fund 34 settlements in occupied West Bank Submitted by Nadav Rapaport on Wed, 07/15/2026 - 13:45 Bezalel Smotrich says the settlement expansion is intended to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state Israeli settlers stand near al-Tireh neighbourhood at the western entrance of the city of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, on 14 July 2026 (Zain Jaafar/AFP) Off The Israeli government announced on Tuesday that it had approved a budget of approximately 1. 3bn shekels ($434m) to fund the establishment of 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank. According to Israeli news outlet Ynet , the decision was made by the security cabinet in June but kept under wraps over concerns about the US response.