Israel on Thursday approved nearly 4,500 housing units in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by the Hebrew state since 1967. This is reported by the Israeli NGO Peace Now.
The government gave the final green light to 2,791 housing units and a preliminary approval of 1,631 others. “This is bad news for Israel and reinforces the occupation, making future peace even harder to achieve,” said Peace Now’s Hagit Ofran.
Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked responded by calling it “a day of celebration for the settlements in Judea and Samaria,” the Biblical names for the West Bank area. Last week, Shaked already announced plans for new homes, which drew international criticism, including more than US President Joe Biden.
Today, about 475,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, in addition to 2.9 million Palestinians. Israeli colonization, which is illegal under international law, has continued under all Israeli governments since 1967. Under former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, things have accelerated in recent years.
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