The security cabinet on Wednesday night approved the legalization of 30 more wildcat outposts throughout the West Bank, Ynet reports, citing unnamed Israeli officials.
The reported decision was made at security cabinet meeting during which IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir sounded the alarm over the army’s manpower crisis, with the establishment of new communities deep in the West Bank set to further stretch security forces in the territory.
It also comes days after the IDF diverted a battalion to the West Bank that was supposed to go to Lebanon due to rampant settler violence against Palestinians.
The outposts that have reportedly been regulated by the government were previously deemed illegal, even under Israeli law, as they were built without the necessary approvals.
Such outposts have mushroomed across the West Bank over the past two years and have been hotbeds for violence against Palestinians, which has gone overwhelmingly unchecked.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reported to privately have urged the IDF to crack down on the phenomenon, he hasn’t publicly weighed in on the matter for months and his government continues allocating resources toward the settlement enterprise.
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