Israeli occupation authorities have agreed to build hundreds of units in West Bank settlements, as well as to legitimize two new settlement outposts, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.
Israeli occupation authorities approved construction of 382 new housing units in the West Bank settlements, some in relatively isolated locations.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz confirmed, according to the PNN, that this is the final approval necessary for construction, which can begin without delay.
According to the newspaper, Israeli occupation authorities discussed plans for the construction of several hundred other settlement units, but still need more permits from the Supreme Planning Council.
In addition, plans were submitted on Wednesday, to expand the settlement neighborhood of Kiryat Netafim by approving the construction of 84 housing units, building 29 housing units in the Otnil settlement and 52 units in Beit El, as these plans are awaiting further approvals.
The council also discussed the planning of hundreds of new housing units in Adam settlement (also known as Geva Binyamin). Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman vowed to build 400 new units there following the murder of Yotam Ovadia at this settlement last month.
West Bank Settlements Council” Yesha”, an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Israeli settlements, expressed its disappointment of the approval of “so few” new housing units. “This is a scant number of housing units, the smallest to have been approved in the past 18 months,” the Yseha Council said.
Previously, the Council said that “the number of building permits was between 2,000 and 3,000 housing units, which was also a relatively small number compared to the total number of permits in the entire country, that stands at tens of thousands of housing units.”
