Arab league: Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit strongly condemned the decision by Israel's security cabinet to approve the establishment of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank. According to Jordan News Agency, Aboul Gheit stated that the decision represents a challenge to the international will that rejects settlement activity and a violation of international law, which affirms the illegality of Israeli settlements. In a statement, the official spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Jamal Roshdi, mentioned that the ongoing expansion of illegal settlements is aimed at preventing the establishment of a geographically contiguous Palestinian state. He noted that this reflects the nature of the Israeli government, which includes extremists and settlers. The spokesperson quoted Aboul Gheit as emphasizing that settlement expansion will never confer legitimacy. He further stated that the violence carried out by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank constitutes a form of t errorism, conducted under the protection of the occupying power and its official institutions.