Israel’s government has advanced plans for more than 3,400 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank. About 70% of the homes will be built in Maale Adumim, east of Jerusalem, with the rest in nearby Kedar and Efrat, south of Bethlehem.
A minister has said the construction is a response to a deadly Palestinian attack near Maale Adumim two weeks ago. The Palestinian Authority condemned the plans, which are reportedly the first to be approved since June.
Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem – land the Palestinians want as part of a future state – in the 1967 Middle East war. The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
Israel’s Haaretz newspaper said the Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration – the body that implements Israeli government policy in the West Bank – had advanced plans for the development of 3,476 settler homes on Wednesday – with 2,452 in Maale Adumim, 694 in Efrat and 330 in Kedar.
Credit: bbc.com
