JERUSALEM — The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the European Union on Friday condemned Israel’s approval of 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling the move illegal under international law and warning that it further erodes the chances of a two-state peace. The decision, described by Israeli watchdog Peace Now as the largest one-time settlement approval by any Israeli government, sharpened international alarm over the pace of expansion and its impact on territory Palestinians seek for a future state, April 10.
West Bank settlements draw immediate OIC and EU condemnation
According to Reuters, the Israeli cabinet took the decision on April 1, but it only became public this week after the military censor cleared it for publication. The report said the government had not formally announced the move even as criticism began to mount from Palestinian officials and international actors.
Peace Now said the package includes 24 new settlements and the retroactive legalization of 10 outposts. The watchdog said the 34 approvals join 68 other settlements this government has already decided to establish, taking the total to 102 and marking an 80% increase from the 127 official West Bank settlements that existed before the current coalition took office.
In its Friday reaction, the European Union said the decision to establish more than 30 settlements in the occupied West Bank is illegal under international law and “severely undermines prospects for peace and the two-state solution.” Brussels also urged Israel to reverse the decision, abide by its obligations under international law and protect Palestinians in the occupied territories, while separately condemning what it called continued and growing settler violence against civilians.
In a separate statement, the OIC described the approval as a “flagrant violation of international law” and relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions, particularly Resolution 2334. The grouping said intensified settlement building, land confiscation and moves aimed at imposing Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank threaten Palestinian self-determination and further undermine the two-state framework.
Israel has long rejected the broad international view that the settlements are illegal, arguing that the territory is disputed and citing legal, historical and security claims. But for the EU, the OIC and most of the wider international community, the cumulative effect of settlement approvals is to make any future partition of the land harder to negotiate and harder to implement.
West Bank settlements and the longer trajectory of expansion
The latest decision does not stand alone. In July 2024, G7 foreign ministers denounced Israel’s move to legalize five outposts and create three new settlements, calling it counterproductive to peace. In August 2025, European, British and Australian foreign ministers condemned the E1 settlement plan east of Jerusalem, warning it would fragment the West Bank and cut Palestinian areas off from East Jerusalem. And in December 2025, Israel gave final approval to 764 housing units in three West Bank settlements, underscoring how settlement expansion had continued even before the current record approval.
That continuity helps explain why Friday’s reaction was so sharp. The issue for critics is no longer just the size of one approval, but the steady accumulation of new settlements, legalized outposts and housing plans that, taken together, narrow the political and territorial space for a negotiated settlement. With violence in the West Bank already elevated, the new approval is likely to deepen diplomatic friction and add another obstacle to already stalled peace efforts.
