Source: France 24 [French state media]
“Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Thursday the creation in the occupied West Bank of 22 new [squats], which are considered illegal under international law. ‘We have made a historic decision for the development of [squats]: 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria, renewing [squatting] in the north of Samaria, and reinforcing the eastern axis of the State of Israel,’ the minister said on X, using the Israeli term for the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967. He added it was also ‘a strategic move that prevents [sic] the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel.'” [editor’s note: A little late for that; a Palestinian state was established in 1988 – TLK] (05/29/25)