Katz said the move "prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel", while the Palestinian presidency called it a "dangerous escalation". Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem - land Palestinians want, along with Gaza, for their hoped-for future state - in the 1967 Middle East war. A statement said they had approved 22 new settlements, the "renewal of settlement in northern Samaria [northern West Bank], and reinforcement of the eastern axis of the State of Israel". It did not include information about the exact location of the new settlements, but maps being circulated suggest they will be across the length and width of the West Bank. Elisha Ben Kimon, an Israeli journalist with the popular Ynet news site who covers the West Bank and settlements, told the BBC's Newshour programme that 70% to 80% of ministers wanted to declare the formal annexation of the West Bank.