The Israeli government authorized 104 new settlements in the occupied West Bank to consolidate territorial control and prevent the creation of a Palestinian state, a direct violation of international law as reaffirmed by United Nations Resolution 2334. The massive construction seeks to block any two-state solution as Israel reinforces its presence in areas that the international community recognizes as occupied Palestinian territory. RELATED: UN Condemns Israeli Illegal Settlement Expansion in West BankThe announcement coincides with a sustained increase in violence against the Palestinian population in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Extremist Israeli settlers lead their livestock onto Palestinian lands in the east of Al-Samu town, occupied West Bank. Officials in Ramallah warn that the current trajectory leads toward the complete annexation of the West Bank, a scenario that would spell the definitive end of any viable Palestinian state.