News / Palestine

Israel OK's construction of 2,500 settler units in West Bank

Tuesday, 24 January 2017 3:15 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 24 January 2017 3:20 PM ]

The picture shows a general view of the illegal Israeli settlement of Ramot in the occupied West Bank on January 22, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

The Israeli regime has approved the construction of 2,500 new settler units in the West Bank in defiance of international calls to end such unauthorized activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Israeli ministry of military affairs said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the minister of military affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, had endorsed the settlement plans.

Most of the new structures will be built inside the existing settlement blocs in the West Bank, the statement said, adding that some 100 of the units would be erected in the Beit El settlement, which has reportedly received funding from the family foundation of Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law.

It further claimed that the constructions were intended "to maintain regular daily life" in the occupied lands.

“We are building and we will continue building," Netanyahu said on his Twitter account.

In return, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas denounced the construction plans as a new blow to attempts aimed at bringing peace to the region.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the decision "disregards" international opposition to the illegal settlements and urged the international community to take a "real and serious position" against Israel.

Palestinian protesters wave national flags during a demonstration against the construction of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank on January 20, 2017, near the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, East Jerusalem al-Quds. (Photo by AFP)

Tel Aviv has accelerated its settlement construction activities in the occupied Palestinian lands after Trump, a pro-Israel, was elected as the new US president.

On Sunday, Netanyahu said all restrictions on building settlements in East Jerusalem al-Quds were being lifted, announcing plans to expand construction in large settlement blocs in the West Bank.

More than 230 illegal settlements have been constructed since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. The unauthorized structures have hampered attempts to establish peace in the Middle East.

In December 2016, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2334 that denounced the Israeli settlements as a “flagrant violation of international law.”

Moreover, the closing statement of a recent Middle East peace conference in the French capital, Paris, “stressed the need to end the Israeli occupation."

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