Israel to approve hundreds of settler homes across the occupied West Bank

Israeli authorities are today set to approve the construction of hundreds of settler homes across the occupied West Bank.

According to Reuters, a statement by Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said officials will approve “the construction of 1,285 housing units to be built in 2018 and advance planning for 2,500 others in about 20 different settlements”.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz says that final approval for construction will be given for more than 300 housing units in settlements such as Susya, Petzael, Ariel, Alfei Menashe and Oranit.

Read: Israeli committee to advance new settlement housing plans next week

The paper adds that plans will also be discussed “to build 381 homes in Kfar Adumim, 196 in Givat Ze’ev, 120 in Karmei Tzur and dozens in Efrat, Tzofim, Hinanit, Metzad and elsewhere”.

Other plans to be discussed include the retroactive approval of some of the buildings in the outpost of Netiv Ha’avot in the Gush Etzion bloc, as well as final approval for settler homes in Hebron.

Haaretz claims that Lieberman’s figures include “hundreds of housing units that have already been approved and are merely going on the market, a process that does not require further approval”.