Israel announced Thursday its biggest expansion of its presence in the occupied West Bank in decades after approving 22 new Jewish settlements.

Israel approved a massive expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank this week in a move described as a continuation of de facto annexation of the territory.

Most of the world considers the West Bank to be occupied by Israel and considers Israeli settlements there illegal according to international law. Israel, which disputes that stance, conquered the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War; the first settlements were established there shortly afterward.