Israel announced on Thursday that it would establish 22 settlements in the occupied West Bank, including legalizing outposts built without authorization, DW reported.

The move is likely to further strain ties with allies that have been critical of Israel's actions in Gaza.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law, and the UN's top court last year called for construction to stop immediately — a ruling denounced by Israel.

The announcement comes as human rights groups and anti-settlement NGOs say Israel is moving toward at least de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory.

Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is himself a settler, and war minister Israel Katz, who is in charge of managing the communities, made the announcement. 

"We have made a historic decision for the development of settlements: 22 new communities in Judea and Samaria, renewing settlement in the north of Samaria, and reinforcing the eastern axis of the State of Israel," Smotrich said on X, formerly Twitter, using the biblical term for the West Bank employed by the Israeli government.

"Next step: sovereignty!" he added, saying: "We have not taken a foreign land, but the heritage of our ancestors."

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Some outposts that were illegally built without government authorization will be officially established as settlements