Israeli committee to advance new settlement housing plans next week

Israeli officials will meet next week to advance new plans for illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), reported the Times of Israel.

According to the paper, it was announced Thursday that the Civil Administration’s High Planning Subcommittee will convene next Wednesday, the body overseen by the Defense Ministry that greenlights settlement construction plans.

The paper reported that senior settler leaders are unaware of the meeting’s specific agenda, but have “high hopes that the [housing] list would be extensive”.

Meanwhile, the Israeli government approved for marketing 420 housing units in Ariel settlement, deep in the occupied West Bank.

Read: Israel approves $11m for illegal settlements in occupied West Bank

“These homes have already received approval for construction, but the plan’s location in a larger settlement required it to receive an additional authorization from the Prime Minister’s Office”.

#LandGrab

On Tuesday, reported The Jerusalem Post, Israeli officials presented to settler leaders a new NIS 18 billion plan for “settlement security”, hailed as “the first time that the Defense Ministry has presented a comprehensive approach to improving the quality of life [for settlers] in the West Bank”.

The Post noted that “Israel has invested billions of shekels in the construction of an extensive road system in the West Bank since 1967”, adding: “Bypass roads are designed to enable access to settlements, and between such areas, without having to pass through Palestinian villages”.