A four-man Ministerial committee formed by Prime Minister Netanyahu, “decided to formalise the status of three communities which were established in the 1990s following the decisions of past governments,” said the statement.

The Government has already declared several times in the past  in court its intention to legalize the outposts. It is the first time since the Shamir Government in 1990 that the Israeli government is has decided the establishment of new settlements.

The three outposts: Bruchin, Rechelim and Sansana  had no Israeli legal status since being established.

Bruchin has around 350 residents and is located in the northern West Bank, along with Rechelim, which is home to around 240 people. Sansana, home to 240 people, is in the southern West Bank, near Hebron, Alarabiya reports.

Hagit Ofran of Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now condemned the government for establishing new settlements in a a devious way.

“The Israeli government is proving its true policy, that instead of going to peace it is building new settlements,” she told AFP on Tuesday.

According to Israel,  settlement outposts built without government approval are illegal, but the international community views all settlements as unlawful, whether approved by the government or not.

Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have been stalled since  2010 due to disagreement over Jewish settlement building.

Netanyahu says the future of settlements should be decided in peace negotiations.