Including East Jerusalem, Israel has established more than 100 Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he will annex Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank if he happens to be re-elected.
Israelis would go to the polls on Tuesday with Mr. Netanyahu competing for votes with right-wing parties who also support annexing part of the West Bank.
But though Israel disputes this, the settlements are illegal under international law.
On March, the US recognised the occupied Golan Heights that was seized from Syria in year 1967 as Israeli territory.
Palestinians also want to establish a state in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Israel says the Palestinians are using the topic of settlements as an assumed purpose to steer off direct peace talks. It says settlements are not an authentic obstacle to peace and are negotiable.
Netanyahu was asked during an interview on Israeli TV why he had not extended Israeli sovereignty to large settlements in the West Bank.
And he replied, “You are asking whether we are moving on to the next stage – the answer is yes, we will move to the next stage.”
“I am going to extend [Israeli] sovereignty and I don’t distinguish between settlement blocs and the isolated settlements.”
However, according to the Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat, the statement by Mr Netanyahu was “not surprising”.
He also added: “Israel will continue to brazenly violate international law for as long as the international community will continue to reward Israel with impunity, particularly with the Trump administration’s support and endorsement of Israel’s violation of the national and human rights of the people of Palestine.”
“Any measures and any announcements will not change the facts. Settlements are illegal and they will be removed,” A spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas — a Palestinian ruler — told Reuters.