Israel approves new settlement on UNESCO site near Bethlehem, occupied West Bank

Israel has approved a new settlement on a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, its far-right finance minister said on Wednesday.

Bezalel Smotrich, who also heads civil affairs at the defence ministry, said his office had "completed its work and published a plan for the new Nahal Heletz settlement in Gush Etzion", a bloc of settlements south of Jerusalem.

All of Israel's settlements in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, are considered illegal under international law, regardless of whether they have Israeli planning permission.

"No anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist decision will stop the development of settlements," Smotrich, who lives in a settlement, posted on X.