Israel's cabinet approved a proposal for 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, according to a post on X by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is also the chairman of the far-right Religious Zionist Party.

Israel has established a record 69 new settlements over the last three years, Smotrich said.

"We are blocking the establishment of a Palestinian terrorist state on the ground. We will continue to develop, build and settle in the land of our ancestors," Smotrich added.

Smotrich is one of the country's most vocal proponents of Israeli settlements in both the West Bank and Gaza.

The rate of Israeli West Bank settlement expansion has increased significantly under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's current government, according to United Nations figures.

"All Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and related infrastructure have no legal validity and violate international law and U.N. resolutions," said Ramiz Alakbarov -- the U.N. deputy special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process -- earlier this month.

Settlement advancement during 2025 "reached its highest level since U.N. tracking began in 2017," Alakbarov added.

-ABC News' Dorit Long and Somayeh Malekian

U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff confirmed that the U.S. met with officials from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey in Miami, Florida, to discuss the Gaza peace plan, in which they reviewed implementation plans for phase one and began preparing for phase two.

“The first phase has yielded progress, including expanded humanitarian assistance, the return of hostage bodies, partial force withdrawals, and a reduction in hostilities,” Witkoff wrote on X.

Regarding phase two of the ceasefire plan, Witkoff added that the US emphasized “enabling a governing body in Gaza under a unified Gazan authority to protect civilians and maintain public order.”

Witkoff also confirmed the U.S.’ “support for the near-term establishment and operationalization of the Board of Peace as a transitional administration for the civilian, security, and reconstruction tracks of the reconstruction.” In reviewing the "next steps in the phased implementation" of the plan, Witkoff stressed the importance of working in partnership with local Gazan institutions and international partners.

“We reaffirm our full commitment to the entirety of the President’s 20-point peace plan and call on all parties to uphold their obligations, exercise restraint, and cooperate with monitoring arrangements,” Witkoff said.

Witkoff added that "further consultations” in anticipation of phase two will take place in the "coming weeks." As Mariam noted below, phase two of the peace plan is expected to be announced in the new year.

A one-month-old infant, Saeed Asaad Abdeen, died in Gaza due to a "severe drop in temperature," the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

The number of deceased people who have arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip as a result of a recent winter storm and resulting extreme cold stood at 13 as of Thursday morning, the ministry said.

ABC News' Nasser Atta, Diaa Ostaz, Samy Zyara and Guy Davies

The Israel Defense Forces said in a post to X on Thursday that its warplanes "eliminated" a person who crossed the so-called "yellow line" in Gaza and allegedly approached Israeli forces "in a manner that posed an immediate threat."

Israeli forces withdrew to the yellow line in October as part of the ceasefire deal with Hamas. The partial withdrawal left Israeli forces in control of more than half of the strip.

The yellow line was intended as the first of three demarcation lines, to which Israeli forces would withdraw as the ceasefire progressed through its three stages.