Israel’s defense minister said on Thursday he plans to seek approval next week for the construction of some 2,500 new homes in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Avigdor Lieberman, writing on Twitter, said a regional planning board would be asked to designate 1,400 of the housing units for immediate construction.
Settlements are one of the most heated issues in efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, frozen since 2014.
Palestinians want the West Bank for a future state, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Most countries consider settlements that Israel has built in territory it captured in the 1967 Middle East war to be illegal.
Israel disputes that its settlements are illegal and says their future should be determined in peace talks with the Palestinians.
“We will promote building in all of Judea and Samaria, from the north to south, in small communities and in large ones,” Lieberman wrote, using the Biblical names for the West Bank.
There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials, who have long argued that Israeli settlements could deny them a viable and contiguous country.
Some 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas that are also home to more than 2.6 million Palestinians.
Also Read
-
Israeli minister says US may soon recognise Israel’s hold on Golan
Israel is pressing the Trump administration to recognize its sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, an Israeli cabinet minister said on ... Middle East -
Israel reveals secret: Used world’s first F-35 for strike on Iran in Syria
The F-35 stealth fighter was unveiled to the world when Israel used them to carry out an operational attack against Iranian targets in Syria. The F-35 ... Features -
US weighs UN funding cuts after Palestinians join agencies
The United States is considering whether to cut funding to two UN agencies and the chemical weapons watchdog after the Palestinians joined the ... Middle East
