More than 900 Israeli settlement housing units approved

Israeli occupation authorities in the West Bank is set to grant permits for the construction of 906 new settlement housing units, it has been announced.

The move is the “the first such approval in a year.”

The new construction includes almost 300 units in Beit El settlement, which will be built on the site of a Border Police base.

According to Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, “this construction is compensation for Beit El’s agreement to evacuate five buildings on the site known as Ulpana Hill, which had been built on private Palestinian land.”

The new units also include 112 in Ma’ale Adumim on a site originally zoned for public buildings, 381 homes in Givat Zeev, and 27 units in Beit Arieh settlement. More than 200 other units constructed illegally in three different settlements will be retroactively approved.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked established a committee on Tuesday that could serve as a “fast track” route to the legalisation of West Bank settlement outposts established over the years with the help of the authorities.

Shaked commented: “It’s time to clear the legal fog and let residents who live in Judea and Samaria [the Occupied West Bank], most of them in communities set up by various Israeli governments, stop worrying about a constant threat to the ownership of their homes.”

The committee was part of the coalition agreement between Likud and Jewish Home. It will submit its conclusions in 60 days.