The Israeli Housing Ministry and the Ministry of Defence has approved two plans to build 119 units in the illegal settlement of Shilo, north of the central West Bank city of Ramallah.Israeli Ynet reported that the plans were exposed after the Israeli Peace Now Movement filed an appeal to the Israeli High court, eight months ago, when forty units were built in the settlement.
But the Ministry of Defence claimed that the constructions in Shilo are not part of new plans, and that any new plans will require a separate permit.
Meanwhile, Peace Now stated that the constructions are illegal, and not part of the original plans as approved by the Central Planning Office at the so-called Civil Defence Administration, run by the army in the occupied West Bank.
Following an appeal by Peace Now, the Israeli Authorities stated that they decided to retroactively grant permits to existing permanent constructions, in addition to approving the two recent plans.
Should the construction plans be implemented, the Shilo illegal settlement will witness expansion of over 60%; it currently contains 195 units, and a number of mobile homes.
