510 settlement units to be built near Bethlehem

Some 510 housing units will be built in the illegal settlements near Bethlehem, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission has said according to the Palestinian Information Centre.

The news site reported the Director of the commission, Hasan Berejiya, saying that the Gush Etzion council approved the development of a plan to build 510 housing units for Jewish settlers in illegal settlements in the south and east of Bethlehem.

Some 400 of these housing units are intended for construction in Migdal Oz settlement, which was built on land belonging to Beit Fajjar town in southern Bethlehem. The remaining 110 units will be built in the settler outpost of Ibei Hanahal, which was built on land belonging to Kisan town in eastern Bethlehem.

Settlements are illegal under international law, however Israel does not class them as such and says their plight will be agreed in future negotiations with the Palestinians.

READ: Ex-Israel soldiers demand end to settler violence against Palestinians