Israeli human rights organisation Peace Now has revealed that Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon approved building 3,000 new housing units in the West Bank during the first four months of his term.
According to a report in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper on Tuesday, the Peace Now data reveals that Ya’alon approved the construction of 3,000 new housing units during the period between April and July of this year, and that a significant portion of these housing units will be established in settlements located in the centre of the West Bank that are outside the established settlement blocs.
According to the data, Ya’alon has approved the construction of 984 housing units in the Givat Ze’ev settlement, 386 housing units in the Beit El settlement, 550 housing units in the Talmon settlement, 277 housing units in the Alei Zahav settlement, 290 housing units in the Kedumim settlement, 130 housing units in the Peza’el settlement, 60 housing units in the Alon Shvut settlement and finally, 74 housing units in the Etz Efraim settlement.
The data also reveals that Ya’alon has endorsed the expansion of settlements by annexing Palestinian territories in the West Bank near these settlements, including a natural reserve that will be annexed to the Shilo settlement in the centre of the West Bank on the highway to Ramallah, a decision which Peace Now believes is a preliminary step to start construction of housing units in that area.