RNA - The decision was taken by Israel’s so-called Civil Administration’s High Planning Committee following a visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the settlement, Palestinian Information Center reported Saturday, citing an Israeli paper.
According to the report, the plans include the construction of 459 settlement units in Kedem Square, 104 others in Hageit Street, and 18 more settler units in Magdim neighborhood.
Israel has turned a deaf ear to calls from the entire international community, including its own allies, to stop building more settlements or expanding existing ones.
During a Wednesday meeting with Israeli settlement authorities, Netanyahu said he would set aside 800 million shekels ($230 million) for infrastructure projects within the settlements.
The move came after East Jerusalem al-Quds municipality issued permits on Wednesday to add 176 units in Israel’s Nof Zion settlement, surrounded by the Palestinian district of Jabal Mukaber.
Israel’s cabinet is also scheduled to vote on Sunday over a contentious bill that would annex 19 West Bank settlements to what it calls the municipal boundaries of occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.
Israeli settlement activities are in breach of the United Nations Security Council 2334, which calls on Israel to “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem” al-Quds.
While Palestinians consider East Jerusalem al-Quds as the capital of their future state, the Israeli regime regards the whole of Jerusalem as its indivisible capital.
Nearly 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds.
The Israeli anti-settlement group, Peace Now, says that the Israeli regime “has opened all the floodgates when it comes to settlement developments within Palestinian neighborhoods.”
The activities, considered illegal under international law, have been accelerated under US President Donald Trump, who has offered unconditional support to Israel ever since taking office in January.
847/940