Israeli Housing Minister, Ariel Atias, of the Shas fundamentalist party, stated on Tuesday that Israel will advertise bids for the construction of hundreds of Jewish settlements units in the occupied West Bank.Atias stated that his ministry will market a total of nearly two thousand units in settlements across the West Bank.
The Arabs48 news website reported that Atias decided to speed-up four settlement construction plans; one in occupied East Jerusalem, and three in the West Bank settlements of Ma’ale Adumim, Efrat and Har Adar.
The Israeli Housing Ministry and other related government planning committees have already issued construction permits for 1,953 units. Once bids are declared and concluded, the construction will commence.
Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, held a meeting with the Ministerial Cabinet of Eight, and issued instructions to speed-up the construction in West Bank settlements, “That will remain under Israeli control under any future peace agreement.”
On Monday, the Israeli cabinet decided to keep the withheld tax money that Tel Aviv collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority at border terminals, in order to punish the Palestinians for obtaining membership with the UNESCO.
The cabinet also decided to escalate all settlement construction and expansion plans in the occupied territories, including in illegally annexed East Jerusalem.
