Israel plans to build 251 settlement units in the occupied West Bank
Tue 15 October 2019:
The Israeli government advanced plans to build 251 settlement units in the occupied West Bank, according to a Palestinian official on Sunday. The plans were approved by the High Planning Committee of the Israeli Civil Administration, a body responsible for authorizing settlement building.
“The committee approved the construction of 146 housing units in the Gush Etzion settlement, south of Bethlehem city, while 105 settlement homes will be built in Kfar Al-dad east of the city,” Hassan Bureijia, head of the Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Bethlehem, said in a statement.
Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the Six-Day War in 1967. Palestinians seek these areas as parts of a future state. Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law and an impediment to a two-state solution to the conflict.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas denounced U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace efforts last year as the “slap of the century” as the U.S. recognition of contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, along with the cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in American aid to Palestinians, have prompted the Palestinians to cut off ties with the White House. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in 1967.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
