Israel's Security Cabinet announced Sunday that it will legalize nine settlements in the occupied West Bank after a series of attacks in East Jerusalem, including one that killed three people on Friday.

"In response to the deadly terror attacks in Jerusalem, the Political and Security Cabinet unanimously decided to legalize nine settlements in Judea and Samaria (the name Israel uses for the West Bank, the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

"These settlements have existed for many years, some for decades, and were built without the permission of the Israeli government," the statement said. The Supreme Planning Council of the Civil Administration will reportedly meet in the coming days to approve the construction of new housing in existing settlements in the West Bank. Earlier on Sunday, during a meeting of his government, Binyamin Netanyahu said he wants to "intensify colonization," which is illegal under international law. More than 475,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, where 2.8 million Palestinians live permanently.

The Israeli prime minister also announced that his government wants to submit to the Knesset (parliament) this week a law revoking Israeli citizenship and expelling terrorists. These measures will apply to Israeli Arabs (descendants of Palestinians who remained on their land after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948) as well as to Palestinians with resident status in East Jerusalem. The announcement came in the context of the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian violence. On Friday, a Palestinian killed three Israelis, including two children, in an attack that took place in Ramot, an area of the Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, part of the Holy City annexed by Israel. And on Sunday, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenager in an army raid in the northern West Bank.