The Israeli Housing Ministry announced, on Friday morning, new tenders for 1,400 housing units within settlements in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, according to Haaretz.
The announcement was made just four days after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited the region ‘in an attempt to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations’, the Palestinian News Network (PNN) has reported.
Tenders were released for the construction of 600 housing units in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, which lies over the ‘Green Line’, in Jerusalem, and a further 801 units in West Bank settlement blocs, Haaretz added.
Israel will build 227 settler housing units in Efrat, 78 in Alfei Menashe, 86 in Karnei Shomron, 40 in Ariel, 75 in Adam, 24 in Beitar Illit, 102 in Immanuel and 169 in Elkana.
Israeli settlements in these areas are illegal, according to international law, and further violate any attempts at peace within the region.
Furthermore, John Kerry has recently asked Jordan and Saudi Arabia to support efforts in gaining Palestinian recognition of Israel as ‘a Jewish state’.
