News / Palestine

Israel allocates extra funds to illegal settlements

Monday, 11 July 2016 10:10 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 11 July 2016 10:10 AM ]

A picture taken in the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron) on July 6, 2016 shows a Palestinian man standing in front of buildings in the Kiryat Arba illegal settlement on the outskirts of the Palestinian city. (By AFP)

Israel has approved an additional USD 13 million in funding for illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank in defiance of international calls against the construction of such settlements.

The Israeli regime on Sunday approved the allocation of some 50 million shekels (USD 12.8 million) to “strengthen” the settlements within al-Khalil (Hebron) as well as the settlement of Kiryat Arba on the city’s outskirts in the occupied West Bank, Israeli officials said.

The funds will reportedly be allocated over three years.

On June 16, the Israeli regime had approved USD 18 million in extra funding for the illegal settlements across the occupied Palestinian territories.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

The UN and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories they are built on were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands.

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