JERUSALEM, July 4 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli regulatory body has approved plans for building 5,295 new settler homes throughout the occupied West Bank, a settlement monitoring group said on Thursday.
Peace Now, an Israeli-based settlement watchdog, stated in a press release that the Higher Planning Council of the Civil Administration approved the new construction during a two-day discussion on Wednesday and Thursday.
The building plans include the expansion of settlements deep within the West Bank and the retroactive legalization of three outposts, which were originally built by settlers without official Israeli permits. As part of their legalization, the three outposts, namely Mahane Gadi, Givat Hanan, and Kedem Arava, were declared "neighborhoods" of existing settlements, Peace Now said.
The approval of the new settler housing units came a day after Israeli authorities approved the appropriation of 12.7 square km of land in the West Bank, marking the largest single appropriation in about three decades.
Israel seized the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war and has expanded settlements there ever since. The international community widely considers the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, where the Palestinians wish to establish their future state, an obstacle to achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
These moves are likely to stoke further tensions in the region, which is already experiencing increasing violence following Israel's onslaught in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Hamas' attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 last year. ■
